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 Call of South Africa". 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.
archiveREF R-0113772Revised
Archive record
Nkosi Sikelele I-Afrika
- Origin date
- 12 March 1982
- Updated
- 27 Aug 2019
South African History Online. (2016, February 22). Nkosi Sikelele I-Afrika. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/nso/ref/R-0113772
South African History Online (2016) 'Nkosi Sikelele I-Afrika', South African History Online, 22 February. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/nso/ref/R-0113772 (Accessed: 29 July 2026).
South African History Online, Nkosi Sikelele I-Afrika [website], https://sahistory.org.za/nso/ref/R-0113772, (accessed 29 July 2026).
"Nkosi Sikelele I-Afrika." South African History Online, 22 Feb. 2016, https://sahistory.org.za/nso/ref/R-0113772. Accessed 29 July 2026.
South African History Online. "Nkosi Sikelele I-Afrika." South African History Online. February 22, 2016. https://sahistory.org.za/nso/ref/R-0113772.
Further reading
Article
DISA Archive
DISA is a freely accessible online scholarly resource focusing on the socio-political history of South Africa,...
Archive
Letter from Barney Pityana to Neville Curtis
Letter from Barney Pityana (President, SASO) to Neville Curtis (NUSAS) regarding NUSAS and SASO relations.
Place
Cape St Francis, Western Cape Peninsula
Manuel Perestrelo visited Cape St Francis in 1575 and named it 'Bahia de Sao Francisco'.
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