Eswatini's Reed Dance sees hundreds of girls perform before the King

Inside the stadium, the girls chanted and danced as they paraded before the 55-year-old king, who arrived surrounded by "Amabutho", traditional Swati warriors, and sat next to his mother on a throne set up on a stage.

Swati maidens carry reeds while marching outside their camps ahead of the 2023 Umhlanga Reed Dance ceremony, at the Mbangweni Royal Residence on October 14, 2023. (AFP)