Reed dance Ceremony

REMARKS BY
MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI, MP
PRESIDENT OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY
CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE OF TRADITIONAL LEADERS (Kwa-zulu natal)
UNDUNANKULU KAZULU 
AND INKOSI OF THE BUTHELEZI CLAN

I am delighted to be here today to celebrate with you one of our nation’s most joyous and colourful ceremonies. I would like to join with His Majesty, the King, in welcoming the beautiful young maidens who make this ceremony so joyous and colourful.

The Reed Dance symbolises, in a very special and unique way, life, beauty, purity and unity. Today’s events are an important celebration of our African heritage and traditions. Even though the Reed Dance has only been recently acquired in the traditions of the Zulu Nation, it has been part and parcel of the traditions of our region for much longer.  It is a very special honour that at this ceremony today we have as our King’s special guests His Excellency the Vice-President of the Republic of Nigeria and a delegation of their Excellencies the Ministers from Nigeria.

Our traditions serve as a source of unity in our society and are tangible proof of the common values which bind our communities together.

These beautiful young maidens are the pride of their families. It is an achievement and a credit to them that, in this day and age, the purity of their daughters has been preserved, despite the intense pressures and demands of modern-day living.

This celebration is a living testimony that our traditions have not been lost. There are young people who still take part in this life-enhancing sense of community, continuity, and harmonious living. Our presence here today shows our commitment to continue to uphold traditions. In so doing, we give fresh meaning to our lives by keeping alive the values of self-respect and ubuntu, a person is a person through other persons.

This celebration shows that women have always been cherished and valued within our culture. Despite all the changes that modernity brings to their lives, tradition still holds the wonderful ability to strengthen the moral fibre of our society.

It is a serendipitous coincidence that this ceremony takes place in the early spring. Like a flower that opens to embrace the early morning sun, these beautiful young maidens are preparing to embark upon the glorious journey of adulthood.  

There is a controversial legend that when our ancestors moved southwards, they travelled in rafts, “isilulu”, made of reeds. That is why we use the expression “sehla ngesilulu”, which means “we came by traditional boats”. The Reed Dance ceremony is one such traditional boat. The Reed Dance is a traditional boat on which these beautiful young maidens prepare to navigate the sea of life in the presence of His Majesty, the King.

The rebirth of the Reed Dance owes much to His Majesty’s wisdom and foresight. By reintroducing this ceremony, His Majesty has brought us into closer harmony with our brothers and sisters in Swaziland, and with the other people in the region, who also floated southwards on traditional boats.

Sadly, the calm waters of our nation are being disturbed by a whirling tempest. Today, more than ever, the value of tradition and purity must be appreciated and embraced, for we live in a time when young people die untimely deaths and the natural rhythm of life is broken. Our young people are being devoured by HIV/Aids. We live in a time when parents are cruelly robbed of spending their old age in the company of their children. We live in a time when babies are orphaned by the disease that does not care who you are, or where you come from. Our children’s purity is being lost.

This ceremony serves to restore that lost purity. Tradition has the power to heal. From tradition, we derive the wisdom to make decisions that sustain communities.

Within tradition, communities have the opportunity to access the ancient and tested ways of living. In this manner, they find the strength to meet the challenges of any hardship that comes their way. It is my fervent hope that the young maidens gathered here today, will always be able to draw upon tradition all the days of their lives.

Our culture also emphasises that we are linked to our ancestors. We are not the product of random chance. The ground on which we stand here is the very same land our ancestors stood upon, celebrating the very same tradition we are celebrating today. The Reed Dance ceremony speaks of the eternal cycles of life: of birth, childhood, youth, maturity and old age.

There can be little doubt, however, that the most celebrated cycle of life is the magical time of our childhood and adolescence. So much hope and so much promise!

Today we celebrate youth, beauty and purity in a place where we can all be young, beautiful and pure once again. The Reed Dance is a time for colour and joy.

May God bless all the beautiful young maidens who have travelled here from all corners of the Kingdom. May God shine His light upon them. As our ancestors once set forth in traditional boats, may the young maidens know today, as they prepare to embark upon the voyage of life, that there is safety in the boats of our best traditions.

It is now my privilege to present our King and Founder of this spectacular ceremony to address us as His people.