In 1927 seven additional Xhosa stanzas were added by the poet Samuel Mqhayi. … Seën ons, in Afrika PLAYLIST. In Finland the same melody is used as the children's psalm "Kuule, Isä taivaan, pyyntö tää" ("Hear, Heavenly Father"). Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo, Lord bless Africa Yizwa imithandazo yethu [22], The South African national anthem as it appears specified in the South African, "National anthem of South Africa" (instrumental). "Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free" is the national anthem of Zambia. In 1994,[1] Nelson Mandela decreed that the verse be embraced as a joint national anthem of South Africa, with a revised version including elements of "Die Stem" (the then co-state anthem inherited from the previous apartheid government) adopted in 1997. [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 re-conciliatory measure for the post-apartheid future of South Africa.[21][11][12]. The first verse and chorus of this version are the original words composed by Enoch Sontonga in 1897. Cima bonk' ubugwenza bayo Kinders van Afrika Zimoyike zezimhlouele, Woza Moya, Oyingcwele. It is the only national anthem in the world that does not finish in the home key. [9], In 1994, after the end of apartheid, the new President of South Africa Nelson Mandela declared that both "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" and the previous national anthem, "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" (English: "The Call of South Africa") would be national anthems. From the late 1940s to the early 1990s, South Africa was governed by a system known as apartheid, a widely condemned system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination that was based on white supremacy and the repression of the black majority for the benefit of the politically and economically dominant Afrikaner minority and other whites. It was sung to close the Congress meeting in 1912, and by 1925 it had become the official closing anthem of the organisation, now known as the African National Congress. "Ishe Komborera Africa" was the Zimbabwean version of "God Bless Africa" sung in the Shona and Ndebele languages and was its first national anthem, adopted after the country gained independence in 1980. Bless our efforts of union and self-uplift, Because of its connection to the ANC, the song was banned by the regime during the apartheid era. (1873–1905). 1873 - 18 April 1905) was the composer of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika (God Bless Africa), which has been part of the South African national anthem since 1994. Enoch Sontonga, a teacher and lay preacher from the Eastern Cape, died in obscurity in 1905 years ago, aged just 33. Thina lusapho lwayo. While the inclusion of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" celebrated the newfound freedom of most South Africans, the fact that "Die Stem" was also retained even after the fall of apartheid, represented the desire of the new government led by Mandela to respect all races and cultures in an all-inclusive new era dawning upon South Africa. And united we shall stand, Bless the ministers That He may bless them. Sikelel' amakosikazi; Malupakam' upondo lwayo; Oor ons ewige gebergtes, Previously, it had been the official anthem of the African National Congress since 1925. The fourth and final stanza, sung in English, is a modified version of the closing lines of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika". Laat haar mag tot in die hemel reik Azisikelele. Chorus Your family. Usisikelele, Thina lusapho lwayo. 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. Volume IV – The Colonial Era (1850 TO 1960)", "Nelson Mandela: the triumph of the protest song", "Full Nelson Mandela Inauguration on 10th of May 1994", "Die Stem, 'Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika' and 'Star Spangled Banner' – Mandela State Visit (1994)", https://www.c-span.org/video/?56689-1/south-african-flag-raising-ceremony, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nkosi_Sikelel%27_iAfrika&oldid=996469057, CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown, Articles containing explicitly cited English-language text, Articles to be expanded from September 2013, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 December 2020, at 20:08. Lord bless us, your children.[22]. Uwazikelele. A version by the London Symphony Orchestra under André Previn was featured in the film Cry Freedom (1987).[16]. O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho, In other African countries throughout southern Africa, the song was sung as part of the anti-colonial movements. Lord, bless Africa It was initially written as a hymn celebrating pan-Africanism against the oppressive regime of the time. Sikelela abafundisi Chorus Mankayi Enoch Sontonga wrote and composed the South African national anthem, Nkosi Sikelela iAfrica in 1897, a prayer for God’s blessing on the African land and its people. The words of the first stanza were originally written in Xhosa as a hymn. May her spirit rise high up It includes versions in Chichewa (Malawi and Zambia). Some claim the melody is based on the hymn "Aberystwyth" by Joseph Parry,[3] Outside of Africa, the hymn is perhaps best known as the long-time (since 1925) anthem of the African National Congress (ANC), as a result of the global anti-Apartheid Movement of the 1970s and 1980s, when it was regularly sung at meetings and other events. And bless them. John Langalibalele Dube's Ohlange Zulu Choir popularised the hymn at concerts in Johannesburg, and it became a popular church hymn that was also adopted as the anthem at political meetings. Waar die kranse antwoord gee, From the blue of our skies, Nkosi sikelela, Lord bless us [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 the Economic Freedom Fighters calling for the verse to be removed because of this connection. 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