THE Zulu royal family hopes to hold a peaceful annual Reed Dance Festival this year on Saturday, 9 September, following last year's dramatic celebration.
The festival will be held at Enyokeni Royal Palace.
In 2022, Prince Simakade Zulu and his supporters, who opposed King Misuzulu as King, refused to allow Misuzulu to use the Enyokeni Royal Palace in Nongoma, KZN.
Another drama happened when supporters of King Misuzulu forcibly removed Prince Simakade’s supporters from the palace a day before the festival on 17 September 2022.
The festival took place under the presence of heavily armed special task force police.
Police Minister Bheki Cele attended the festival in 2022, to ensure that all visitors to the event were safe.
Unfortunately, King Misuzulu’s loyalist, advisor and Induna Dumisani Khumalo was shot dead at his home, a few kilometres from the palace and few hours after attending the festival. It was unclear if this was related to the drama surrounding the use of the royal palace.
ALSO READ: MaZul’ Ozulayo's dream finally comes true!
Zulu royal spokesman Prince Africa Zulu assured the nation that there will be no drama as the palace belongs to the King.
"There is stability in the Zulu royal house and King Misuzulu is in control. What happened last year, happened because there were others who did not accept the King.
"The situation is stable now. The drama that happened last year will not happen this year and I want to assure you that the festival will go on as planned," he said.
Prince Africa said that thousands of maidens from KZN and other provinces are expected to present their reeds to the King on Saturday.
The Enyokeni Royal Palace is the only place where the annual Reed Dance Festival, known as Umkhosi Womhlanga, is held.
Misuzulu hosted the pre-reed festival at eMachobeni Royal Palace in Ingwavuma, KZN on Saturday, 2 September.
