PH Ambassador to South Africa Celebrates Reed Dance Ceremony with King Mswati III
Ambassador to South Africa Joseph Gerard B. Angeles (rightmost) and Finance Minister Neil Reikenburg (center)enjoy the ceremony with a dash of Eswatini flair. (Preotria PE photo)
PRETORIA 04 October 2019 — Ambassador to South Africa Joseph Gerard B. Angeles visited Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) to attend the “Umhlanga” or the Reed Dance ceremony upon the invitation of King Mswati III on 01-04 September 2019.
Umhlanga is the most important cultural celebration of Eswatini. It includes a gathering of young, unmarried girls who pay tribute to the Queen Mother at the latter’s royal residence. The main event is a spectacle that showcases the cultural heritage of Eswatini through song and dance. Dignitaries, spectators, and tourists attend and enjoy the event.
Ambassador Angeles took the opportunity to greet King Mswati III and briefly thanked him for the hospitality accorded to the Filipino community in Eswatini, which numbers to around 250.
He also met with the Eswatini Finance MinisterNeil Reikenburg, with whom he engaged more substantively by briefing him on the extraordinary progress the Philippines has achieved on the economic front.
Ambassador Angeles also took the opportunity to meet with the new officers of the Filipino-Swazi Association (FILSWAA). The organization shared its plan with the Embassy to avail of free land being offered by King Mswati III for the purpose of creating livelihood projects.
FILSWAA intends to put up an agricultural micro-enterprise that will produce moringa (malunggay) and other health products. The project will include the whole production process, from planting, packaging, to marketing.
Ambassador Angeles offered to formally indorse the project to King Mswati III as soon as a Feasibility Study for the project is finalized. END
Ambassador Angeles (rightmost, in suit) meets with Eswatini King Mswati III. (Pretoria PE photo)
Ambassador Angeles (fourth from left) together with the officers of the Filipino-Swazi Association (FILSWAA). (Pretoria PE photo)
For more information, visit https://www.pretoriape.dfa.gov.ph.