Maidens appeal to king of Zulus

A CULTURAL group supporting two maidens who were "robbed" of their virginity after meeting two Ukhozi FM DJs at the reed dance three years ago wants Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini to ban alcohol at the annual event

Amatshitshi Esizwe, a Johannesburg-based cultural group, said drunk maidens were taken advantage of by men who use the ceremony to "pick up women".

"The event is so poorly organised and entry is not restricted. Men come in expensive cars and the whole event is turned into a party scene where young girls are exposed to many social ills including sex and alcohol," the group's chairman Thembinkosi Mnomiya said yesterday.

Food and alcohol are sold to those attending the occasion.

The reed dance, which was revived by Zwelithini in 1984, is a celebration of Zulu maidens' virginity. The girls dance topless in traditional short, beaded skirts before the Zulu royal family.

Amatshitshi Esizwe has been behind two women who claim that hosts of a popular traditional music slot Sigiya Ngengoma, Khathide "Ntshatha" Ngobe and Ngizwenkosi Mchunu, lured them to bed under the pretext that they would marry them.

Last week a group of maidens protested outside the Ukhozi FM studio at the SABC office in Durban, demanding that the public broadcaster ban the two from attending future reed dances.

SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago yesterday said the SABC could not address the maidens' grievance because they failed to hand over a memorandum during last week's protest.

Mnomiya said the maidens would also protest at this year's reed dance at Enyokeni Palace in Nongoma to show that they need to be protected during the occasion.

However, founder of the Nomkhubulwane Youth and Cultural Organisation, Nomagugu Ngobese, yesterday blamed the maidens for "allowing themselves to be used and dumped".

"They are taught how to respond when approached by men so that things are done properly. Virginity testing groups are run by adult women who teach them about how a young girl should behave.

"And rules are very strict about the importance of abstaining until marriage," Ngobese said.

She said men could not be banned because it has "always been Zulu culture for both sexes to be there".