Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) MEC Rev Musa Zondi. Picture: Supplied
The 40th anniversary of the reed dance will be filmed in a documentary with a R7.5 million budget.
MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) Rev Musa Zondi said details for the documentary had not yet been finalised.
Zondi made the announcement during the launch of the tourism month, themed “Tourism and Peace: 30 years of connecting people and places and cultures”, on Thursday in Ulundi at the uMgungundlovu multimedia centre.
Zondi said the KwaZulu-Natal Tourism and Film Authority would have a crew spending three days capturing footage, including members of the Zulu royal family.
“Important people and role players in the history of Ulundi and the province of KwaZulu-Natal particularly in Zululand” would feature, said Zondi, as would important areas in Zululand.
He said the royal homesteads would be part of the documentary because they wanted to promote them as tourist attractions.
Zondi said the Durban July made a large contribution to the province’s economy and they hoped the palaces would do the same thing.
He said this province had rich cultural traditions, history and heritage which drew thousands of tourists to KZN every year.
Zondi said they had not finalised details of where the documentary would be broadcast, but he was sure broadcasting houses would compete to air it.
This weekend maidens from across the province gather at eNyokeni Royal Palace for the reed dance. The first reed dance took place last week at eMachobeni Royal palace.