National anthem of South Africa Information & National anthem of South Africa Links at HealthHaven.com

National Anthem of South Africa
	; The National Flag of South Africa.
National anthem of	South Africa
Also known as	Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika (First segment); English: Lord Bless Africa; Die Stem van Suid-Afrika (Second segment); English: The voice of South Africa
Lyrics	Enoch Sontonga 1897; C.J. Langenhoven 1918
Music	Enoch Sontonga 1897; Reverend ML de Villiers 1921
Adopted	1997

Since 1997, The South African national anthem has been a hybrid song combining new English lyrics with extracts of the hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" and the former anthem "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika/The Voice of South Africa". It is the only neo-modal national anthem in the world, by virtue of being the only one that does not finish in the home key. The lyrics employ the five most populous of South Africa's eleven official languages - Xhosa (first stanza, first two lines), Zulu (first stanza, last two lines), Sesotho (second stanza), English (bridge), Afrikaans (third stanza) and English (final stanza).

Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika was composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a Methodist school teacher. It was originally sung as a church hymn but later became an act of political defiance against the apartheid government. Die Stem van Suid-Afrika is a poem written by C.J. Langenhoven in 1918 and was set to music by the Reverend Marthinus Lourens de Villiers in 1921^[1]. Die Stem was the co-national anthem^[2] with God Save the King/Queen from 1936 to 1957, when it became the sole national anthem until 1995. The South African government under Nelson Mandela adopted both songs as national anthems from 1995 until they were merged in 1997 to form the current anthem.

[edit] Lyrics

	English
(Xhosa) Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo, (Zulu) Yizwa imithandazo yethu, Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.	God [Lord] bless Africa May her glory be lifted high Hear our petitions God bless us, Your children
(Sesotho) Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso, O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho, O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso, Setjhaba sa.	God we ask You to protect our nation Intervene and end all conflicts Protect us, protect our nation, our nation
(English) South Africa, South Africa!
(Afrikaans) Uit die blou van onse hemel, Uit die diepte van ons see, Oor ons ewige gebergtes, Waar die kranse antwoord gee,	From the blue of our heaven, From the depths of our sea, Over our eternal mountain ranges, Where the cliffs give answer,
(English) Sounds the call to come together, And united we shall stand, Let us live and strive for freedom, In South Africa our land.

[edit] Notes

^ "SA National Anthem History". http://www.info.gov.za/aboutgovt/symbols/anthem.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
^ www.thepresidency.gov national Anthem

[edit] External links

MP3 format of the National Anthem (instrumental only)
The National Anthem, from info.gov.za
Brief history of the anthem
Brief introduction to the anthem and notation

[History-0] "SA National Anthem History". http://www.info.gov.za/aboutgovt/symbols/anthem.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-21.

[1] www.thepresidency.gov national Anthem

[1]

[2]