Zuma didn't fall - Zulu dancer

2010-01-05 17:01

Durban - President Jacob Zuma did not slip and fall during a traditional solo dance at his wedding, as media reports had claimed, a Zulu dancer said on Tuesday.

The "fall" was part of the Zulu dance, said Ngizwe Mchunu, who led the Zulu warriors who danced during the president's traditional wedding on Monday.

"It was part of the dance. Zulus deliberately drop their bodies when they dance. It is the way of excelling. There is no excitement if you don't do it."

Mchunu, who was also invited to dance during US President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009, said it was important for reporters to learn about Zulu culture.

Eyewitness News and UK newspaper The Guardian reported that the president did a solo traditional dance and slipped and fell backwards in the process.

"There was no indication that he had been hurt," the Guardian's reporter wrote.

Mchunu said: "Even our famous Maskandi musicians do the falling and they don't get hurt."

Zuma married Thobeka Madiba at his Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal homestead on Monday afternoon in a colourful traditional wedding which attracted scores of guests and media.
 

- SAPA