Culture is a very sensitive practice that reflects the true identity of a particular Nation, you don’t just wake-up in the morning and be a ‘graphic designer’ with the monopoly to change the traditional outlook of emaSwati.
Well, having interacted with Princess Sikhanyiso personally, I fully understand that she is an attention seeker who strives for special recognition as “Inkhosatana”.
As a result, she can do anything to be unique including designing her own special “lihiya” so that when among the Lutsango group of women, she can look different and be more visible.
But I am particularly concerned with Princess Sikhanyiso’s unique but nonsensical way of “kutsamba”, designed just to attract the audience for popularity on social media.
Perhaps let me make an example, once I wear a traditional attire(imvunulo), even the walk automatically changes to a traditional walk.
Culture is our true unique identity and therefore, we won’t be mislead by Princess Sikhanyiso who incorporate western dance moves to pollute our culture and traditional behavior.
Our mistake as emaSwati is to conclude that royalty is always right, Princess Sikhanyiso is dancing pure nonsense!.
When we watch Lutsango dancing, we want to see the real kutsamba and enjoy, imagine “ngitsi ngivula libhodo ngifuna kuphakela umbhidvo wetintsanga lofakwe emantongomane lasiliwe ne-nkaka bese ngidibana ne-pizza lefaka-fakwe inshubaba nembhidvo?”.
Kutsiwe ngumbhidvo nawo wesintfu mane sewu-unique uphekwe ngu-Sikhanyiso kani mine ngikhanuka lombhidvo lengawuphekelwa ngu-gogo nga-1988 uphekwe ngalendlela yesintfu hhayi nge-sikhanyiso.
Princess Sikhanyiso must know that, culture is identical and once you temper with our identity, you are messing-it up and turning it into something that,you can’t even explain.
As a result, when asked by the media, Sikhanyiso is failing to explain the definition of her dance moves except to say “it’s my unique dance moves”.
Princess Temaswati danced the real kutsamba and Sikhanyiso will pollute our children into thinking that, her dance moves are part of our culture, she must be stopped otherwise the whole purpose of preserving culture would be defeated.
We once had a debate with one of my colleagues who was working for the British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC) and I told her that, some ‘white journalists’ end-up using pictures of African children eating with their bare hands and then, mislead the world that, it’s a symbol of extreme poverty”.
The truth is; in our culture “siyosa inyama siyijike elahleni, siyidle ngesandla neliphalishi and we enjoy that”.
Any other person from the western countries who is not familiar with our culture will conclude that, we are languishing in poverty just because we using our hands when eating instead of eating with fork and knives.
So in as much as we might appreciate the modernization of our culture, Princess Sikhanyiso is on the fast lane and she must be stopped.
Modernization of culture is gradually implemented, today we are wearing beautiful and well-designed ‘emagcebesha’, we have been accepting this gradual change because it’s within the lane of our culture.
But if someone was to come with an idea of a new ‘ligcebesha’ and then propose that, we must now wear it on the foot not the neck, all of us would scream “umhlolo or lichilo”.
What Princess Sikhanyiso is doing is not just “umhlolo” but ‘lichilo’, she can continue with her unique dance moves but at least, she will do it knowing that, it’s not part of our culture.
Princess Sikhanyiso during Buganu.