NCWALA

The Ncwala also known as 'Festival of the First Fruits,' is an important Swazi religious ritual. It is an annual ceremony lasting eight weeks that unites the inhabitants of Swaziland in order to gain blessings from ancestors. This important event also serves the purpose of renewing the kingship of the nation and commencing the harvesting season. Ncwala is best translated as 'Kingship Ceremony' : when there is no king, there is no Ncwala.

The Dlamini and the Ndwandwe clans play an important role in the preparations of the incwala ceremony from the beginning to the end.

Every Swazi may take part in the public parts of the Incwala, especially the climax, the fourth day of the Big Ncwala. The key figures are the King, Queen Mother, royal wives and children, the royal governors (indunas), the chiefs, the regiments, and the "bemanti" or 'water people'.

At full moon in November, the "bemanti" set off from the Queen Mothers home, in 2 groups:
1. the big group goes to kaTembe (Catembe, south of Maputo), to collect sea-water,
2. the small group goes north, collecting water from rivers.
The "bemanti" return to the royal capital with the new moon in December.
Then the Little ncwala takes place: two days of dance, song and ritual.

14 days later
The Big Ncwala begins.

Day 1: Fetching the Lusekwane (sickle bush/Dichrostachys cinerea)
Unmarried male youths set off from the Queen Mothers village and march 50 kilometres to cut branches of the "lusekwane" under the light of the full moon.

Day 2: Dropping the Lusekwane
The boys place their "lusekwane" branches in the national cattle byre/kraal. The elders weave these branches in between the poles of the "inhlambelo" - the king's private sanctuary.

Day 3: Day of the Bull
Morning: young boys cut branches of the "black imbondvo" (red bushwillow/Combretum apiculatum) and these are added to-the "inhlambelo".

Afternoon: while the king is receiving traditional medicines in his sanctuary, a black "bull" charges out. The "lusekwane" boys catch and overpower the beast and return it to the sanctuary. It is slaughtered and provides ritual ingredients for the doctoring of the king.

Day 4: Eating the First Fruits and Throwing the Gourd
The main day: all the key players perform in a spectacular pageant inside the cattle byre; the king and regiments appear in full war-dress. The king bites and spits out certain plants of the first harvest in his "inhlambelo". 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, touching water, wearing decorations, sitting on chairs/mats, shaking hands, scratching, singing, dancing or gayness.

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 ritual objects are burnt, signifying the end of the old year, while the key players dance and sing inside the byre. The king remains in seclusion until the next full moon, when the "lusekwane" branches are removed and burnt.