Durban - Thousands of maidens made their way to the eNyokeni Royal Palace in Nongoma to take part in the annual Umkhosi Womhlanga (Reed Dance) at the weekend.
Maidens came from all over KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Swaziland.
Stringent security measures had been put in place to ensure an incident-free event. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture working with various municipalities had arranged for 240 buses as well as 157 taxis to transport maidens.
A strong police presence prevailed throughout the weekend, which ensured the safety of the maidens.
The girls’ sleeping areas were fenced off with razor wire and security marshals provided strict crowd control measures throughout the ceremony.
King Goodwill Zwelithini addressed the maidens. During his speech, Zwelithini's speech he issued a warning to the country's politicians. He said political leaders' arrogance could see them draw the ire of the voters.
"A lot of voters in this country accept their leadership as leaders that were voted for by the people, but by those votes the voters don't mean the leaders are now superior to everything. In recent years we have noticed that their arrogance is increasing and some of them have become experts in issues they do not know," King Zwelithini said.