Nkosi Sikelel' i Afrika

this stamp set commemorates the writer and the song

South Africa's national anthem is, like the country itself, complicated.

The anthem comprises five of the most widely spoken of South Africa's eleven official languages – Xhosa (first stanza, first two lines), Zulu (first stanza, last two lines), Sesotho (second stanza), Afrikaans (third stanza), and English (final stanza).

During the transition to post-apartheid South Africa, both 'Die Stem van Suid-Afrika' (Call of South Africa) and Nkosi Sikelel 'iAfrika (God Bless Africa) shared equal status and were sung, which was rather cumbersome. By 1997, a hybrid version of the two was introduced.

Enoch Sontonga (1873-1905) was a Xhosa teacher and choirmaster at a Methodist Mission School. He composed the music and wrote the lyrics of the first verse and chorus in 1897. It was originally intended as a church hymn but was adopted as an anthem at political meetings, sung as an act of defiance. By 1925 it was the anthem of the ANC. Versions of the hymn also later became the national anthems of Zambia, Tanzania, Namibia, and Zimbabwe after independence, though new anthems were eventually adopted for all those countries with the exception of Tanzania which still has a Swahili version as their anthem.

Is this truly not the world's most beautiful anthem?

Apparently there are many versions as there is no standard translation and the words may vary from place to place and from occasion to occasion.

English translation
italics for God Bless Africa, non-italics for The Call of South Africa
(listen closely and you can definitely hear the chord change)
God bless Africa
May her glory be lifted high
Hear our petitions
God bless us, Your children
God we ask You to protect our nation
Intervene and end all conflicts
Protect us, protect our nation, our nation, 
South Africa
South Africa!
Ringing out from our blue heavens,
From our deep seas breaking round,
Over everlasting mountains,
Where the echoing crags resound,
Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land!

See more of making music at Sunday Stamps II