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TRADITIONAL ATTIRE IS UNITY, IDENTITY

21/02/2023 07:15:00 Sabelo Gabs Nxumalo

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The uniformity and beauty of the emaSwati traditional attire, which all the Members of Parliament wore at the parliament’s opening, can give one a false sense of unity of a collective national think tank, just like the National People’s Congress during the opening ceremony in the Peoples’ Republic of China. I am not a great fan of communism as a political and economic system, but one can’t fail to admire its progress through unity over a few short decades. I digress. I don’t want to talk about China but about unity.

Over the years, I have noted, with disappointment and sadness, how our beautiful traditional attire has moved away from the ordinary emaSwati to the royal family and those closely connected to the royal family. This is particularly true during national events and important government meetings. It is almost like the traditional attire is now the sole preserve of the royal family, chiefs, and tindvuna. To the extent that, when we were going through the months following the unrest, people who were seen dressed in traditional attire were harassed, and some were even physically manhandled. This is very unfortunate on many levels.

Our identity as the great emaSwati Empire

Our greatest worrier, King Mswati II (Mswati lonyama kilabalitfuli), expanded our empire, stretching it from present-day Witbank (Emalahleni) through to Kruger National Park, down to Ngwavuma and Jozini. Evidence of his gallantry is that the whole of present-day Mpumalanga Province of South Africa speaks siSwati and keeps Swati culture and traditions. They are basically part of the great nation of emaSwati. The unfortunate colonial injustice of history, which took away huge chunks of our land and our people, occurred throughout Africa, including our sister countries, the Basotho and the Batswana, equally. We remained a remnant to preserve the culture and the traditions for the future generation.

EmaSwati are not Dlamini only but many surnames and families. I am a proud liSwati from the Ndwandwe Kingdom of King Zwide II, who sent a daughter Indlovukazi Tsandzile Ndwandwe to be the mother of this great King Mswati 11, who ruled from 1835 to 1865. EmaSwati can’t and should not surrender their identity to the Dlaminis when they have been part of the building of this nation for hundreds of years. Dlamini has its place.

Royal intermarriages

It goes without saying that when you marry and have children with the royals, you automatically become a royalty. This means that practically every surname Eswatini is part of the royal family. As already mentioned, the Ndwandwe is featured many times within the royal family. However, many other surnames become royalty through marriage, dating back to our first known Monarch, King Dlamini I. The subsequent kings followed Mswati I from whom we get our name, to Ngwane II, to Dlamini II, to Nkosi, Mavuso I, Magudulela I, Ludvonga I, and to Dlamini II, all married non-Dlamini who become royals.

To bring it closer home, note the following. Back in 1790, Indlovukazi was Lakubheka Mnzebele to King Ndvungunye. Later, Indlovukazi Lojiba Simelane ruled with King Sobhuza I, who was followed by Indlovukazi Tsandzile, as already mentioned. In 1875, King Ludvonga ruled with Indlovukazi Sisile Khumalo, then later, King Mbandzeni ruled with Indlovukazi Tibati Nkambule. King Ngwane V ruled with Indlovukazi Labotsibeni Mdluli. King Sobhuza outlived most of his queen mothers whom we bogogo bakhe (his grandmothers) from the Ndwandwe royalty. He would end up with Indlovukazi Dzeliwe Shongwe. We find our present, Her Royal Highness Indlovukazi Ntombi Thwala, also joining the long line of non-Dlamini royals.

Royal Heritage

EmaSwati must claim their royal heritage, as already demonstrated that almost all emaSwati are royalty. When you cross over to South Africa, you are constantly referred to as those of royalty (Nine beNkhosi). This is not coincidental; those people recognise the royalty in every emaSwati. Interestingly, the most common South African surnames is Dlamini, followed by Nkosi (which is another version of Dlamini or Nguni word meaning king or chief), then Ndlovu, which means Elephant. Note that all the royal family queen mothers mentioned are referred to as Indlovukazi (She Elephant)

EmaSwati Attire and Religion

My greatest disappointment is also how religion perceives traditional attire. It is considered almost ungodly in church, only acceptable when royalty wears it. I must accept that emaSwati must know which type of attire to wear for each occasion to maintain modesty, respect, and dignity. God sees the heart and allows people to respect their traditions and culture as long as they don’t go against his teachings, especially the 10 commandments.

Evolution of Emaswati Attire

Our traditional Attire has evolved so beautifully. One can recognise what stage of life (married, single, child, adult, etc.) a liSwati is by reading the attire he or she is wearing. There are different types of attire for different occasions. We have managed to take what is good from the white man, as King Sobhuza II advised. I only wish we evolve our political system Tinkhundla to the point that we can elect our prime minister and government taking the best parts of democracy and leaving the childish bicary and division of party politics. The political system is very democratic at the stage of direct parliamentary representation and just fails the democratic scrutiny when it comes to forming a democratic government.

Just as our traditional attire is fast becoming the domain of only the Dlamini and royalty, our political system, Tinkhundla, which was given by our King Sobhuza II should develop and improve, but has become the enemy of the progressives and the liberals. EmaSwati, who should be embracing and collectively finding ways to evolve our political system, have opted to take on the western political systems wholesale, just as we now dress in western clothing with more pride than our traditional wear.

Unity is more than dressing the same once a year during the Parliament opening but understating its meaning, just like the Chinese who are now dominating the world. This country belongs to all emaSwati, and we must respect the leadership we have entrusted and they us. However, we must also be proud of our heritage as Emaswati and strive to better our politics and keep our culture and traditions the only thing still African.
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