The anthem is often referred to by itsincipit of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", but this has never been its official title, which is simply "National Anthem of South Africa".
The lyrics employ the five most widely spoken of South Africa's twelve official languages –Xhosa (first stanza, first two lines),Zulu (first stanza, last two lines),Sesotho (second stanza),Afrikaans (third stanza), andEnglish (final stanza). The lyrics are sung in these languages regardless of the native language of the singer. The first half was arranged byMzilikazi Khumalo[3] and the latter half of the song was arranged byJeanne Zaidel-Rudolph, who also wrote the final verse.[3][4] The anthem is compositionally unusual as it employsprogressive tonality, starting inG major butmodulating to and ending inD major (theItalian,Spanish, andPhilippine national anthems also have progressive tonality).[5]
From the late 1940s to the early 1990s, South Africa was governed by a system known asapartheid, a widely condemned system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination that was based onwhite supremacy and the repression of theblack majority for the benefit of the politically and economically dominantAfrikaner minority and other whites. During this period, South Africa's national anthem was "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika", also known as "Die Stem", anAfrikaans-language song that chronicled theVoortrekkers and theGreat Trek. "Die Stem" is a poem written byC. J. Langenhoven in 1918 and was set to music by Marthinus Lourens de Villiers in 1921.[6] "Die Stem" (English:"The voice of South Africa") was the co-national anthem[7] with "God Save the King"[a] between 1938 and 1957, when it became the sole national anthem until 1994. "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" was composed of eight stanzas: the original four in Afrikaans and four in English - a translation of the Afrikaans with a few modifications. It was seldom sung in its entirety; usually, the first stanza was the most widely known and sung sometimes followed by the last stanza.
When apartheid came to an end in the early 1990s, the future of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" was called into question.[8][9] It was ultimately retained as the national anthem, though "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", aXhosa language song that was used by theanti-apartheid movement, was also introduced and adopted as a second national anthem of equal standing.[10] "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" was composed by aMethodist school teacher namedEnoch Sontonga in 1897. It was first sung as a churchhymn but later became an act of political defiance against theapartheid regime.
For the1995 Rugby World Cup,Morné du Plessis suggested that theSpringboks learn all the words of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", and "they did so with great feeling", according to their instructor Anne Munnik.[12]
The practice of having two national anthems proved to be a cumbersome arrangement as performing both of them took as much as five minutes.[13] This was rectified when South Africa's dual national anthems were merged in abridged forms in early 1997[14] to form the current national anthem. The new national anthem was performed at an opening of the South African parliament in February 1997,[15] and was published in the South AfricanGovernment Gazette on 10 October 1997.[14] During the drafting of the new national anthem, it was requested by South African president Nelson Mandela that it be not more than one minute and 48 seconds in length (which was the average length of other countries' anthems being used for reference).[14] The new English lyrics were adapted from the last four lines of the first stanza of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" (English:"The Call of South Africa"), with the changes made to reflect hope inpost-apartheid South African society.
Lines borrowed from the two previous national anthems were modified to be more inclusive, omitting overt reference to specific groups of the country's population groups. Thus, lines from the apartheid-era national anthem's first stanza referencing theVoortrekkers'Great Trek were omitted, as "this was the experience of only one section of" South African society.[4][14] Likewise, the words "Woza Moya", used in "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" were also omitted, as the phrase is a specifically Christian reference, rather than a generically religious one,[4] and thus not acceptable to South Africans of other religions, particularly Muslim South Africans.[14] A new verse found in neither song was also added. The English version of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" was less prominent than the Afrikaans version and thus could be changed with little objection or controversy.[14] As such, the English portion of the new South African national anthem was the one that had its lyrics changed from the previous version.[14]
In recent years, the South African national anthem has come under criticism for its Afrikaans verse as it was originally part of the national anthem of South Africa that was used during the apartheid era,[16] with some such as theEconomic Freedom Fighters calling for the verse to be removed, supposedly because of this connection.[17][18][19][20] Others defend the inclusion of the verse, pointing out that it is included in large part due to the wishes of the first post-apartheid South African president,Nelson Mandela, who intended its inclusion as a reconciliatory measure for the post-apartheid future of South Africa.[21][11][12]
Hear our prayers Lord bless us, as your children.[22]
Second verse inSotho(with IPA transcription[d] and English translation)
Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso, O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho, O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso, Setjhaba sa, South Afrika, South Afrika.[22]
^Carlin, John (19 September 1999)."Master of His Fate".The New York Times on the Web Books.Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved6 June 2018.
