Editing National anthem of South Africa (section)

==History==
{{National anthems of South Africa}}

===Background===
From the late 1940s to the early 1990s, South Africa was governed by a system known as [[apartheid]], a widely condemned system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination that was based on [[White South Africans|white supremacy]] and the repression of the [[Bantu peoples of South Africa|black majority]] for the benefit of the politically and economically dominant [[Afrikaner]] minority and other whites. During this period, South Africa's national anthem was "[[Die Stem van Suid-Afrika]]", also known as "Die Stem", an [[Afrikaans]]-language song that chronicled the [[Voortrekkers]] and the [[Great Trek]]. "Die Stem" is a poem written by [[C. J. Langenhoven]] in 1918 and was set to music by Marthinus Lourens de Villiers in 1921.<ref name="History">{{Cite web |title=National Anthem |url=http://www.info.gov.za/aboutgovt/symbols/anthem.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021015456/http://www.info.gov.za/aboutgovt/symbols/anthem.htm |archive-date=21 October 2007 |access-date=21 October 2007 |website=South African Government Information}}</ref> "Die Stem" ({{Langx|en|"The voice of South Africa"}}) was the co-national anthem<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Anthem |url=http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/pebble.asp?relid=265 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525005311/http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/pebble.asp?relid=265 |archive-date=25 May 2012 |access-date=6 June 2012 |website=The Presidency |df=dmy-all}}</ref> with "[[God Save the King]]"{{efn|Subsequently "God Save the Queen" when [[Elizabeth II]] acceded to the throne following the death of [[George VI]].}} between 1938 and 1957, when it became the sole national anthem until 1994. "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" was composed of eight stanzas: the original four in Afrikaans and four in English - a translation of the Afrikaans with a few modifications. It was seldom sung in its entirety; usually, the first stanza was the most widely known and sung sometimes followed by the last stanza.

When apartheid came to an end in the early 1990s, the future of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" was called into question.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carlin |first=John |date=19 September 1999 |title=Master of His Fate |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/99/09/19/reviews/990919.19carlint.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612144104/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/99/09/19/reviews/990919.19carlint.html |archive-date=12 June 2018 |access-date=6 June 2018 |website=The New York Times on the Web Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Keller |first=Bill |date=8 May 1994 |title=Symbols/The New South Africa; The First Emblems of Unity: A Little Something for Everyone |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/08/weekinreview/symbols-new-south-africa-first-emblems-unity-little-something-for-everyone.html |url-status=live |access-date=6 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612213933/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/08/weekinreview/symbols-new-south-africa-first-emblems-unity-little-something-for-everyone.html |archive-date=12 June 2018}}</ref> It was ultimately retained as the national anthem, though "[[Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika]]", a [[Xhosa language]] song that was used by the [[Internal resistance to apartheid|anti-apartheid movement]], was also introduced and adopted as a second national anthem of equal standing.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Keller |first=Bill |date=28 April 1994 |title=The South African Vote: The Voting; Blacks Seizing Their Moment: Liberation Day |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/28/world/the-south-african-vote-the-voting-blacks-seizing-their-moment-liberation-day.html |url-status=live |access-date=6 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612222117/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/28/world/the-south-african-vote-the-voting-blacks-seizing-their-moment-liberation-day.html |archive-date=12 June 2018}}</ref> "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" was composed by a [[Methodist]] school teacher named [[Enoch Sontonga]] in 1897. It was first sung as a church [[hymn]] but later became an act of political defiance against the [[Apartheid|apartheid regime]].

The [[South African government]] adopted both songs as dual [[national anthems]] in 1994, when they were performed at [[Nelson Mandela]]'s inauguration.<ref name="Carlin153">{{Cite book |last=Carlin |first=John |title=Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation |date=2008 |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=978-1-59420-174-5 |location=New York |pages=147, 153}}</ref>

For the [[1995 Rugby World Cup]], [[Morné du Plessis]] suggested that the [[South Africa national rugby union team|Springboks]] learn all the words of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", and "they did so with great feeling", according to their instructor Anne Munnik.<ref name="Carlin173">{{Cite book |last=Carlin |first=John |title=Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation |date=2008 |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=978-1-59420-174-5 |location=New York |pages=173–178}}</ref>

===Inception===
The practice of having two national anthems proved to be a cumbersome arrangement as performing both of them took as much as five minutes.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McNeil |first=Donald G. Jr. |date=28 March 1996 |title=Johannesburg Journal; Will Rugby Embrace, or Crush, a Dainty Flower? |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/28/world/johannesburg-journal-will-rugby-embrace-or-crush-a-dainty-flower.html |url-status=live |access-date=6 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612230250/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/28/world/johannesburg-journal-will-rugby-embrace-or-crush-a-dainty-flower.html |archive-date=12 June 2018}}</ref> This was rectified when South Africa's dual national anthems were merged in abridged forms in early 1997<ref name="Siemon">{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Siemon |date=15 October 2013 |title=The South African National Anthem: A History on Record |url=http://flatint.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-south-african-national-anthem.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330042026/http://flatint.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-south-african-national-anthem.html |archive-date=30 March 2018 |access-date=17 April 2018 |website=flatint}}</ref> to form the current national anthem. The new national anthem was performed at an opening of the South African parliament in February 1997,<ref>{{Cite web |title=South African Parliament Opening |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?78694-1/south-african-parliament-opening |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115220115/https://www.c-span.org/video/?78694-1%2Fsouth-african-parliament-opening |archive-date=15 January 2021 |access-date=30 December 2021 |website=C-SPAN}}</ref> and was published in the South African ''Government Gazette'' on 10 October 1997.<ref name=Siemon/> During the drafting of the new national anthem, it was requested by South African president Nelson Mandela that it be not more than one minute and 48 seconds in length (which was the average length of other countries' anthems being used for reference).<ref name=Siemon/> The new English lyrics were adapted from the last four lines of the first stanza of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" ({{Langx|en|"The Call of South Africa"}}), with the changes made to reflect hope in [[History of South Africa (1994–present)|post-apartheid South African]] society.

Lines borrowed from the two previous national anthems were modified to be more inclusive, omitting overt reference to specific groups of the country's population groups. Thus, lines from the apartheid-era national anthem's first stanza referencing the [[Voortrekkers]]' [[Great Trek]] were omitted, as "this was the experience of only one section of" South African society.<ref name="Samro">{{Cite web |date=17 June 2012 |title=The National Anthem Is Owned by Everyone |url=http://www.samro.org.za/node/298 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313093626/http://www.samro.org.za/node/298 |archive-date=13 March 2013 |access-date=13 March 2013 |website=South African Music Rights Organisation}}</ref><ref name=Siemon/> Likewise, the words "Woza Moya", used in "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" were also omitted, as the phrase is a specifically Christian reference, rather than a generically religious one,<ref name="Samro" /> and thus not acceptable to South Africans of other religions, particularly Muslim South Africans.<ref name=Siemon/> A new verse found in neither song was also added. The English version of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" was less prominent than the Afrikaans version and thus could be changed with little objection or controversy.<ref name=Siemon/> As such, the English portion of the new South African national anthem was the one that had its lyrics changed from the previous version.<ref name=Siemon/>

===Criticism===
In recent years, the South African national anthem has come under criticism for its Afrikaans verse as it was originally part of the national anthem of South Africa that was used during the apartheid era,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ganesh |first=Narendh |date=23 July 2014 |title=Die Stem Controversy |work=Post |url=https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/post/20140723/282067685059813 |url-status=live |access-date=12 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612184602/https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/post/20140723/282067685059813 |archive-date=12 June 2018 |via=PressReader.com}}</ref> with some such as the [[Economic Freedom Fighters]]  calling for the verse to be removed, supposedly because of this connection.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Quintal |first=Angela |date=2018-04-13 |title=The Surreal Moment when a Harlem Choir Sings Die Stem for Winnie |work=City Press |url=https://city-press.news24.com/Voices/the-surreal-moment-when-a-harlem-choir-sings-die-stem-for-winnie-20180413 |access-date=12 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612184611/https://city-press.news24.com/Voices/the-surreal-moment-when-a-harlem-choir-sings-die-stem-for-winnie-20180413 |archive-date=12 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Haden |first=Alexis |date=27 December 2017 |title=Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika Named Best National Anthem in the World |work=The South African |url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/south-african-anthem-best-in-the-world/ |url-status=live |access-date=3 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920211145/https://www.thesouthafrican.com/south-african-anthem-best-in-the-world/ |archive-date=20 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Haden |first=Alexis |date=18 April 2017 |title=EFF Calls for Removal of Die Stem on 120th Anniversary of Enoch Sontonga's Death |work=The South African |url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/eff-calls-for-removal-of-die-stem-on-120th-anniversary-of-enoch-sontongas-death/ |url-status=live |access-date=3 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212023507/https://www.thesouthafrican.com/eff-calls-for-removal-of-die-stem-on-120th-anniversary-of-enoch-sontongas-death/ |archive-date=12 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=de Villiers |first=James |date=2017-04-18 |title=Die Stem Adulterates Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika – EFF |url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/die-stem-adulterates-nkosi-sikelel-iafrika-eff-20170418 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612184718/https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/die-stem-adulterates-nkosi-sikelel-iafrika-eff-20170418 |archive-date=12 June 2018 |access-date=12 June 2018 |website=News24}}</ref> Others defend the inclusion of the verse, pointing out that it is included in large part due to the wishes of the first post-apartheid South African president, [[Nelson Mandela]], who intended its inclusion as a reconciliatory measure for the post-apartheid future of South Africa.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 September 2015 |title=EFF 'Missing the Plot' on Die Stem |work=Sowetan Live |url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2015-09-27-eff-missing-the-plot-on-die-stem/ |access-date=6 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906124621/https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2015-09-27-eff-missing-the-plot-on-die-stem/ |archive-date=6 September 2018}}</ref><ref name=Carlin153/><ref name=Carlin173/>

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