{"id":14234,"date":"2012-09-04T03:39:37","date_gmt":"2012-09-04T01:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/09\/swazi-virgins-dance-in-unity-defy-criticism\/"},"modified":"2012-09-04T03:39:37","modified_gmt":"2012-09-04T01:39:37","slug":"swazi-virgins-dance-in-unity-defy-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/swazi-virgins-dance-in-unity-defy-criticism\/","title":{"rendered":"Swazi virgins dance in unity, defy criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

By Agnieszka Flak and Helen Nyambura-Mwaura<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

LUDZIDZINI ROYAL VILLAGE, Swaziland, Sept 3 (Reuters) –
\nT housands of bare-breasted young Swazi women paraded in front of
\ntheir king to celebrate chastity and unity, dismissing criticism
\nof the lavish ceremony in one of Africa’s poorest countries for
\nits last absolute monarch.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Clad in beaded mini-skirts and clutching machetes and mobile
\nphones, women and girls as young as five danced and sang
\ntributes on Sunday and Monday to the king and queen mother, also
\nknown as the Great She-Elephant, in a traditional Umhlanga Reed
\nDance meant to celebrate womanhood and virginity.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’m proud to be Swazi and to be a virgin. We are here to
\nshow unity with the king and with each other,” said 18-year-old
\nGcebine Dlamini, bracing the cold of the southern hemisphere’s
\nwinter in her skimpy outfit as scores of tourists had photos
\ntaken next to the topless women.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

King Mswati III, who has at least a dozen wives and a
\npersonal fortune estimated at $200 million, faced unprecedented
\nprotests last year when his appointed administration ran out of
\nmoney after a 2009 recession in neighbouring South Africa.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the straitened times, the royal household has shown
\nfew signs of wanting to tighten its belt. In July, South
\nAfrica’s Mail and Guardian newspaper reported that three of
\nMswati’s wives joined a 66-strong royal entourage heading to Las
\nVegas on a shopping spree. There was no comment from the palace.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

But women at the annual event gathered behind the monarch in
\nthe week-long celebrations, even though police kept a close
\nwatch on what they might tell journalists and tourists roaming
\nthe grounds of the royal village, some 20 km (12 miles) outside
\nthe capital.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

In the past, the king has used the ceremony to choose a new
\nwife, and some girls still hoped to catch the king’s eye.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“If chosen, I would be able to live a better life than what
\nI have, have a lot of money, live a queen’s life and travel
\noverseas,” said Fakazile Dlamini, 14, who arrived on a lorry
\nfrom her village 60 km away to attend the ceremony.
\n\u00a0 Continued…<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Agnieszka Flak and Helen Nyambura-Mwaura LUDZIDZINI ROYAL VILLAGE, Swaziland, Sept 3 (Reuters) – T housands of bare-breasted young Swazi women paraded in front of their king to celebrate chastity and unity, dismissing criticism of the lavish ceremony in one of Africa’s poorest countries for its last absolute monarch. Clad in beaded mini-skirts and clutching […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[830,2370,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-14234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-news","8":"tag-reuters","9":"tag-south-africa-2","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}