eSwatini’s King Mswati III has gone into seclusion to observe the annual Incwala ceremony., APA can report on Thursday.
The king was due to attend the inauguration and swearing in of Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi on Friday, but due to the start of the three-month seclusion he assigned Prime Minister Ambrosi Dlamini to attend the event that will be held at the University of Botswana Indoor Sports Arena.
The king will remain away from the public eye until the end of January 2020 while he performs sacred rituals that are set to start towards the end of November 2019
Before he went into isolation on Wednesday he commissioned the water party, a delegation of traditional warriors that travels to Mozambique to fetch sacred water from the Indian Ocean.
The water is also used for the king’s rituals.
The traditional authorities will announce a date in December, which will be declared a national holiday during which warriors and the nation will dance as the highlight of the ceremony.
Under normal circumstances, the king’s first public appearance after seclusion is at the official opening of Parliament in February.
NSM/as/APA