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Teenage girls dancing in the annual cultural festival heard voices and rushed toward the area where President Jacob Zuma and Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini were seated during the Saturday ceremony in KwaZulu-Natal province. The president's bodyguards escorted him away from the thousands of colorfully-clad dancers, The Star's front-page report said.
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| King of Zulu |
"There was no danger to the president," Bongani Majola told The Associated Press, adding that Zuma attended the whole ceremony without further incident.
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| Zulu Princess leading the maidens during the event |
"There are some of you who came
here with evil spirits to spoil this event," the Zulu king told the
crowd once order was restored, according to the report.
Nomagugu Ngobese, president of a
cultural group that trains the young women, heard reports that priests
were summoned on Friday, after some dancers began wailing, apparently
possessed.
This happened again during the
main ceremony on Saturday. Dancers began to hallucinate and scream,
causing panic among the crowd of thousands of young women, who scattered
in different directions, said Ngobese, who attended the ceremony. They
did not run toward the president, she added.
"Now that it has happened within
the palace, it seems as if it's something new," said Ngobese, an
academic and traditional healer who said spirit possession was common.
South Africa's Reed Dance is
smaller than a similar event in Swaziland. In South Africa about 10,000
teenage girls participate, according to a government website. According
to Zulu custom, only virgins are allowed to bring reeds to the royal
homestead during the four-day ceremony.
Before the festivities, the teenagers are taught life skills and reproductive health, said Ngobese.
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