Any event featuring Jacob Zuma, virginity tests and more than 25,000 bare-breasted maidens dancing for a polygamous king is unlikely to pass entirely without incident. And so it proved with this year's Zulu reed dance in South Africa。

　　Girls participating in the annual uMkhosi WoMhlanga are required to have their genitalia inspected to certify they are virgins. The centuries-old practice has been condemned by gender rights groups but defended by Zulus as means of combating teenage pregnancy and HIV。

　　Zuma and King Goodwill Zwelithini, who has five wives, were among guests at the ceremony in Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal Province, last weekend。

　　Zwelithini, 62, condemned "rogue" virginity testers and expressed dismay at seeing pictures of the tests turn up on the internet, South Africa's Mercury newspaper reported. "I was shocked when I received these pictures on my website," the Zulu monarch was quoted as saying. “I have no doubt these pictures are going to be used to attack this solemn culture of ours. This is a very important tradition and culture and needs to be conducted with dignity and respect without abusing and violating the dignity and privacy of the maidens."

　　The Mercury said there were fears that the event, in which thousands of mostly adolescent girls parade bare-breasted wearing traditional beaded skirts, had become a target for pornography syndicates。

　　英国《卫报》9月14日报道：祖鲁国王谴责上传年度舞蹈活动处女测试照片行径

　　南非总统祖马、处女测试，还有超过2.5万名袒胸露乳的少女为妻妾成群的国王献舞，任何事件只要有这三点，都不可能在大众舆论下全身而逃。今年南非祖鲁的“芦苇节”就是一例。

　　参加一年一度祖鲁“芦苇节”的女孩子们需接受生殖器检查，以验证她们是否为处女。这个习俗已经延续了几百年，招致性别平等组织的谴责，对此祖鲁人辩护称这只是针对青少年早孕、青少年艾滋病等问题的预防手段。

　　而上周末在夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省的农戈马，南非总统祖马和已经娶了五个妻子的祖鲁国王古德维尔观看了此次活动。

　　事后，据南非《水星报》报道，现年62岁古德维尔谴责了“下流”的处女测试人员，并表示网络上关于处女测试的照片让他深感震惊。报道援引他的话说：“看到这些上传到我网站上的照片我很震惊。我毫不怀疑，有人准备利用它攻击我们的神圣文化。这是一个非常重要的传统和文化，人们应该以肃穆和尊重的态度来对待，而非滥用和侵犯这些女孩子们的尊严和隐私。”

　　《水星报》则称他们担心这种数万名青春少女袒胸露乳、围着小珠子短裙集体狂欢的活动，极易引发暴力强奸案件。