The advance of the AIDS pandemic has been slowed by the re-instatement of the annual reed dance, Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said today.
“I firmly believe that the rampant spread of HIV/Aids has been slowed by the reintroduction of the reed dance. I applaud His Majesty our King for championing this fight,” Buthelezi said in KwaDukuza in KwaZulu-Natal.
“We realise that in spite of more available treatment that the incidence of HIV and Aids has not lessened. It is possibly one of the greatest challenges of our times under the reign of our present King,” he said.
Buthelezi was speaking at the annual King Shaka Day celebrations.
The annual festival sees maidens presenting a reed - symbolising their purity - to the king.
“We owe our King Goodwill Zwelithini a debt of gratitude... We remember our past, and look to our future, knowing that the two are linked through this symbol of our unity.” -Sapa