The National Anthem of South Africa

The book looks at the two components that make up the National Anthem of South Africa-the hymn "Nkosi Sikelel'iAfrika" by E. Sontonga, the poem "Die Stem van Suid Afrika" (The Call of South Africa) by C. J. Langehoven, and how "Die Stem" was set to music by Rev L. de Villiers. The book introduces the Xhosa composer Enoch Sontonga, how and when he composed the hymn "Nkosi Sikelel'iAfrika." It then looks at the use of this hymn, the effect it had on the black people, and how it ultimately captured the imagination of the African National Congress. The book then looks at the metamorphosis of the hymn, also highlighting how it crossed the borders of South Africa. The reader is then introduced to the Afrikaans poem "Die Stem van Suid Afrika" (The Call of South Africa) by C. J. Langenhoven. The book then traces how this poem also caught the imagination of the Afrikaaner nation, its setting to music, and how it ultimately became the national anthem of White South Africa. Finally, the reader gets to see how politics shaped the routes that these two compositions took to ultimately be fused together to the National Anthem of South Africa.