South Africa Reed Dance Festival ‘Umkhosi Womhlanga’ 2018

It’s that time of the year again when young maidens in their thousands, from Swaziland‚ Gauteng and Mpumalanga‚ will assemble at the Enyokeni Palace of Zulu King, Goodwill Zwelithini, on Friday, 7th of Sept. for the annual three-day reed dance festival.

The reed dance jamboree‚ known as Umkhosi Womhlanga‚ is hosted by the Zulu royal family‚ in partnership with the KZN Department of Arts and Culture. It is aimed at teaching young women about the dangers of social ills.

Only virgins are allowed to take part in the ancient Zulu tradition.

Umkhosi Womhlanga is a custom Zulu’s have in common with Swazis‚ a nation that historians describe as their closest tribal cousins.

Before young women can participate in the festival‚ they have to undergo virginity testing — ukuhlolwa kwezintombi — an ancient Zulu tradition that is regarded as an important rite of passage to womanhood.

During the ceremony‚ thousands of maidens will declare their virginity before King Zwelithini‚ who revived the ancient practice in 1984 after it was largely neglected by previous Zulu monarchs.

King Zwelithini takes pride in the ceremony‚ even though it has become a point of controversy in post-apartheid South Africa and has resulted in heated debate between cultural groups and traditionalists on the one hand‚ and human rights groups and feminists on the other.

Previous attempts by the government to outlaw virginity testing‚ which is viewed by human rights groups and feminists as a violation of women’s rights‚ have failed. And instead‚ the reed dance ceremony has been growing in stature every year.

Proponents of virginity testing draw comparisons and point to frequent deaths in circumcision schools as proof of a problem that needs to be addressed.

King Zwelithini has resisted any attempts to outlaw virginity testing and has accused its proponents of ignorance and insensitivity to Zulu cultural values.

He once argued:

“Circumcision has killed many people‚ but our practice has not killed anyone. I don’t even want to talk too much about this because it is annoying me. My own children have been tested and they have no problem with that. I said they must arrest me if they want to outlaw this practice.”

The young women who pass the test during virginity testing take pride in their status and are lauded in their communities. The idea is that by remaining pure before marriage‚ the women are safe from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.