BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – The first leg of the Buganu ceremony of 2025, which was held at Buhleni Royal Residence, under Mayiwane Constituency, in the Hhohho Region, ended on a high note.
The traditional ceremony, which will go down in history as an event that produced a public holiday, concluded in the evening of 23 February 2025. During that ceremony, members of the Lutsango regiment performed traditional dances in front of Their Majesties, pleading for permission from the country’s leaders to allow the Lutsango to disperse to their different places of abode.
Different dances such as Ummiso were performed during the event. The Lutsango regiment also danced to a famous traditional song known as ‘Njiloni,’ which was also danced to by Their Majesties and members of the Royal family. Kutsamba is another dance that followed the singing of Njiloni. This marked the end of the event.
Many members of the Lutsango regiment were given an opportunity to perform the Kutsamba in front of Their Majesties. This included Lutsango from the country’s public security and protection organisations, other Government Ministries and Departments, as well as members of Lutsango from different chiefdoms across the country.
The nation is now looking forward to the second leg of the 2025 Buganu ceremony, which will take place at Hlane Royal Residence, under Dvokodvweni Constituency, in the Lubombo Region. The nation, after the celebrations of the Hlane Buganu ceremony, will celebrate the Buganu holiday for the first time in history. The holiday will be on a Monday that follows the celebrations of the event, as it was announced by His Majesty King Mswati III on 22 February 2025.
The king announced the holiday because he felt it was a bit unfair for the Buganu ceremony not to have its own holiday, yet other traditional ceremonies, such as Umhlanga and Incwala, had theirs. The king stated that after consultation, they decided to shift the holiday of 22 July to be celebrated during the Buganu holiday.
The 22 July holiday was formally known as a Public Holiday, which was celebrated in remembrance of His Majesty King Sobhuza II. His Majesty the King believed that King Sobhuza would be pleased to have his day celebrated during the Buganu holiday. He emphasised that during the celebration of the Buganu, the legacy of King Sobhuza II would also be remembered on the same day.
