For decades Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika (God Bless Africa) was regarded as the national anthem of South Africa by the oppressed and it was always sung as an act of defiance against the apartheid regime, using the official anthem Die Stem. A proclamation issued by the State President Nelson Mandela on 20 April 1994 stipulated that both Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika and Die Stem (the Call of South Africa) would be the interim national anthem of South Africa. 

In 1996 a shortened, combined version of the two anthems was released as the new official National Anthem which still holds true today. 

   

(combining Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika and Die Stem/The Call of SouthAfrica)

Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,
Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.

Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa la matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa South Afrika - South Afrika.

Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,

Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.

   

 


 Last Revised: Tuesday, October 09, 2007