BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE- Come one, come all!
This is the message by the Minister of Home Affairs, Her Royal Highness Princess Lindiwe, in a brief statement today that was posted on all official Government of Eswatini social media pages.
In the statement, the minister said the Ministry of Home Affairs reminded the nation that tomorrow, Tuesday, January 10, 2023, was an Incwala Holiday.
The minister further invited the nation to attend the ceremony in their numbers.
“Incwala is for all emaSwati,” said the minister.
Tomorrow marks the peak of the Incwala Ceremony, a sacred prayer for the Eswatini nation. The ceremony will be at Ludzidzini Royal Residence where His Majesty King Mswati III, their majesties, officials and emaSwati will be in dance, praying for the nation.
The full sequence of the Big Incwala:
Day 1
Dispersing of regiments (Tingaja). Unmarried male youths set off from Engabezweni Royal residence and march 50km to cut branches of the sacred shrub (lusekwane) under the light of the full moon, accompanied by Emabutfo.
Day 2
Dropping the Lusekwane: the boys place their luse4kwane branches in the national cattle byre. The elders weave these branches in between poles of the ‘inhlambelo’, the King’s private sanctuary.
Day 3
Morning: Young boys cut branches of the black ‘Imbondvo’ (red bush willow/combretum apiculatum) and these are added to the ‘Inhlambelo’.
Afternoon: A bull charges out, the Lusekwane boys catch and overpower the beast and return it to the sanctuary.
Day 4 (taking place tomorrow)
Main Day: All the key players perform in a spectacular pageant inside the cattle byre; the King and the regiments appear in full war-dress and dance to a number of songs. Then he emerges to throw the sacred gourd (Luselwa), which is caught on a black shield by one of the Lusekwane boys.
Day 5
Day of Abstinence: The King sits in seclusion in the ‘great hut’. The ‘bemanti’ roam the royal capital in daylight hours, enforcing the rules of this day. No sexual contact, bathing, wearing decorations, sitting on chairs/mats, shaking hands, scratching, singing and dancing.
Day 6
Day of the Log: The regiments march to a forest and return with firewood. The elders prepare a great fire in the centre of the cattle byre. On it, certain objects are burnt, signifying the end of the old year, while the key players dance and sing inside the cattle byre. The king remains in seclusion until the next full moon, when the ‘Lusekwane’ branches are removed and burnt.
