Xhosa Language - Anthem

Anthem

Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika is part of the national anthem of South Africa, national anthem of Tanzania and Zambia, and the former anthem of Zimbabwe and Namibia. It is a Methodist hymn written in Xhosa by Enoch Sontonga in 1897. The original stanza was:

Nkosi, sikelel' iAfrika;

Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo;

Yizwa imithandazo yethu

Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.

Lord, bless Africa;

May her horn rise high up;

Hear Thou our prayers

Lord, bless us.

Additional stanzas were written later by Sontonga and other writers, with the original verse translated into Zulu, Sotho and Afrikaans, as well as English.