MAIDEN COLLAPSES AT REED DANCE, DIES

The late Temakhuzu Zikalala.

MANZINI – A 16-year-old maiden from Lubuli Royal Kraal succumbed to death after collapsing while playing with other members of Imbali at Lobamba.

The incident is said to have happened on Saturday night at the tents which were mounted near Mashibhini, Lobamba.
Information gathered was that Temakhuzu Zikalala, who was a Grade VII pupil at Lubuli Primary School, died in hospital after collapsing while at the tents. The maiden is said to have been playing with other maidens from her home area before she collapsed.

Temakhuzu was part of the approximately 80 000 Imbali who had attended this year’s Reed Dance which commenced last Thursday, and sadly she was not part of the maidens who were dispersed on Tuesday.  

It was gathered that while they were playing after eating supper, Temakhuzu collapsed, and vomited after regaining consciousness. The source said the other maidens raised an alarm and the tindvuna came to the scene and called paramedics, who responded immediately.

“The paramedics attended to her but her condition did not improve thus they rushed her to the Mbabane Government Hospital where she died while undergoing treatment,” the source said. The deceased’s uncle, Ndosi Mngometulu, confirmed the matter.
He said he received a call at about 12 midnight on Saturday notifying him about the matter from one of the tindvuna who had accompanied the Lubulini maidens to the ceremony, who also happened to be a relative to the deceased.

“I received a call from one of the tindvuna informing me that Temakhuzu was vomiting. I told them to call the medical practitioners who were stationed around their campsite, which they did.
“However, a few minutes later, the indvuna called again and told me that they had taken her to Mbabane Government Hospital as her condition did not improve after the paramedics attended to her,” Mngometulu said.

He said the deceased did not show any signs of illness when she left home for the Reed Dance and she had no known illness besides the usual flu that everyone experienced. He said on the day Temakhuzu left, she showed no signs of sickness at all, not even flu.
He said on the following day, a delegation from Labadzala also arrived at his home to report about the matter.

Indvuna yeMbali, Nduduzo Zubuko said she could not comment on the matter as it was being handled by Labadzala. She said the better person to comment was Acting Ludzidzini Governor Timothy Velabo Mtetwa.
However, Mtetwa also said he could not make any comments as he was indisposed. “I’m in hospital as we speak,” he said.
Imbali Overseer Hlangabeza Mdluli confirmed the matter.

He said they had gathered that the deceased was a healthy person as she did not show any signs of illness when she left for the Reed Dance.
He said they were shocked about the incident and they were still trying to find out what could have led to Temakhuzu’s death.

“We would also like to send our sincere condolences to her family, relatives and friends for what happened to Temakhuzu. Even though some years back, a maiden died after drowning in Manzana, we were shocked by the demise of Temakhuzu,” Mdluli said.

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