Is This The Most Colourful Tribe In Africa?

Also known as the Swazi people, they live on the southern part of the African continent living in countries such as Swaziland, Mozambique as well as South Africa, and to date still uphold their culture and norms.

During the fifteenth century, these people migrated from central Africa where they were a section of the Nguni tribe. In 1750 when they arrived in Swaziland, they established their own economical as well as political identity.

Even today, the people of the Swati Kingdom wear their colorful customary dresses, and being a strong patriarchal society, the queen mother may even have more dominance over the king.

Actually choosing a next king would be like choosing a new queen mother. There are major distinctions between the social status of the people living in the urban and rural areas. the closer one is to the king, the higher they are in status in their clan.

The Swazi speak a Bantu language with an origin of the Nguni group which is very similar to the Zulu people. It is among the two (2) official languages (Swati and English) spoken in Swaziland and among South Africa’s eleven (11) official languages. The Swazi Language comes in two major variations one being the royal upper-class style that is spoken in most of the parts of Swaziland and the other being the crude style of speaking.

Similar to most tribes across the African continent, the Swazi people have traditional attire which is strange and very unique. Such attires are normally worn on important cultural ceremonies whereas just a few cultures wear their traditional attires daily. Unique about the Swazi people is that they have particular attires specific to every gender as well as age group. Nonetheless, there are some particular clothing only worn during particular traditional ceremonies such as the Incwala and the Umlanga.

The attires worn on a daily basis by the Swazi people on a daily basis are highlighted below:

The newly born to 3 months old don not wear any clothing other than protective medicines

3 months to 3years: the boys wear a small loin skin, whereas the girls wear only have a sting of beads in their waist.