Traditional leaders and high-profile delegates from Southern Africa converged at the foot of Hora Mountain over the weekend where the annual Umthetho Cultural Festival lived up to its billing as it displayed cultural pride, youthful energy and regional unity. There were overnight performances that lit up the venue, with music, dance and celebration stretching deep into the surrounding forests. Beyond the fun lay the deeper essence of Umthetho: culture, identity and unity. Among those present were Inkosi ya Makhosi Gomani V of the Maseko Ngoni, host Ngwenyama M’mbelwa V of the Jere Ngoni, Inkosi ya Makhosi Zintambira of Mozambique and Inkosi ya Makhosi Zulu Gama of the Njelu Ngoni of Tanzania alongside representatives linked to the Mphezeni Royal Establishment of Zambia. A son of Inkosi Thathezakhe Ngobese under King Misuzulu kaZwelithini, he has become a familiar figure at Ngoni cultural gatherings, having attended uNcwala in Zambia and the funeral of Inkosi ya Makhosi Mphezeni IV.