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In 1936 the “Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurverenigings”, unanimously selected the poem by Langenhoven and the music of de Villiers as the winners of a compeition to find the best lyrics and music for an official National Anthem. It was first sung publicly at the official hoisting of the national flag in Cape Town in 1928 and was further popularised when the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) began to close its daily broadcasts with both “God Save the King” and “Die Stem”. Suitable music was ultimately supplied by by Marthinus de Villiers in 1921. In 1919 a Cape newspaper, “Die Burger”, sponsored a compeition for the music, but initial attempts were unsatisfactory to Laneghoven. The Call of South Africa (Die Stem van Suid-Afrika)ĭie Stem van Suid-Afrika is a poem written by Cornelis Jacobus (C.J.) Langenhoven in 1918. The second verse is performed in Sesotho. In the national anthem the first verse is performed in Xhosa (first two lines) and Zulu (third and fourth lines).
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It became known as the unofficial national anthem of South Africa. It was later adopted as an anthem at political meetings and sung as an act of defiance during the Apartheid years. In 1925 the ANC officially adopted it as a closing anthem for its meetings. Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika was further popularised by Reverend JL Dube’s Ohlange Zulu Choir and the hymn proved to be a hit in church services across South Africa.Īt the first meeting of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), the forerunner of the African National Congress (ANC), Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika was immediately sung after the closing prayer. In 1942, Moses Mphahlele published a Sesotho version of the hymn. In 1927 the Lovedale Press, in the Eastern Cape, published all the verses in a pamphlet form. Samuel Mqhayi, a poet, contributed seven additional verses, also in Xhosa. ‘Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika’ was publicly performed in 1899 for the first time. Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrikaĮnoch Sontonga, a Methodist school teacher, wrote the first verse and chorus and also composed the music in “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” (which means “God Bless Africa”) as a hymn in 1897. The combined anthem came into effect on October, 1997, after the English words were added and the musical re-arrangement done by Jeanne Rudolph. A proclamation issued by the State President on 20 April, 1994 stipulated that both Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika and Die Stem would be the national anthems of South Africa. The national anthem of South Africa is a shortened, combined version of “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” and “The Call of South Africa” (known in Afrikaans as “Die Stem van Suid Afrika”).