Reed dance shakes life up

While strolling through my TikTok feed, I came across a striking video of Zulu maidens singing while dancing a traditional dance. I must have replayed it at least five times - taken in by their pride and the undeniable sense of empowerment in their voices and movements. It got me teary, because it gave me a moment to reflect.

- Thando Nondywana

Recently, I wrote about the crisis of consent and statutory rape that has sadly become normal in our society. The TikTok video got me thinking about virginity testing, Umhlanga (the reed dance) and its role in shaping young women.

This particular group based in KwaZulu-Natal are planning an Amatshitshi festival in May and it made me wonder: what if the government invested more in initiatives like this? Could it make a real impact?

Maybe not the controversial maiden's bursary which the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) criticised when uThukela municipality awarded 16 bursaries on the condition that recipients remained virgins.

The CGE argued that "any funding by an organ of state based on a woman's sexuality perpetuates patriarchy and inequality in South Africa".