The whites of the old Rhodesia used to take particular pride in the heroic=
saga of the Shangane river patrol =D1 a police detachment which was=20 surrounded and massacred by the Matabele impis of Lobengula, singing=20 God Save the Queen as they died.=20 Some years ago, a historian created a furious controversy when he=20 suggested that, instead of The Queen, these brave men died singing a bar- room ditty. The historical basis for his assertion was as questionable as t=
upon which the original legend was based, there having been no survivors=20 of the patrol.=20 But common sense did tend to be on his side. After all, when a group of=20 men are facing death are they likely to sing the praises of the fat lady wh=
sent them to their doom? Or would they sing, for themselves and each=20 other, a song evoking the comradeship of the bar, or the locker room?=20 The timing of the decision by the ANC=D5s NEC to drop Die Stem in favour=20 of Nkosi Sikelel=D5 iAfrika is, we would suggest, unfortunate. Obviously th=
use of two anthems is invidious and would have had to be dealt with at=20 some time. For several reasons we would favour Nkosi, the sheer=20 musicality of which is attested to by the fact that several other African=
countries have filched it as their own. But we are still a deeply divided=
country and we do not need to be divided further by argument over a song.=
Instead, perhaps, we should seize the opportunity to boldly put an end to=
the debate, by dropping all reference to a national anthem in the new=20 constitution. =D2Live and let live=D3 might well be our national slogan: we=
worship whom (or what) we wish, we read, watch, wear and say what we=20 like. Why should anyone tell us what to sing ? If football crowds wish to=
sing Nkosi, so be it. If rugby fans want Die Stem, let them sing along. If,= in=20 some distant time, a South African athlete of rainbow hue, having given=20 his, her or its all, mounts the Olympic podium and the chords of Roll me=20 over… ring out =D1 well, glory be the day when the world recognises that=
South Africa is a nation where the individual truly can be free.=20