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”).
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