The gravestone of deceased South African, Enoch Mankayi Sontonga, the composer of "Nkosi Sikeleli, iAfrica", in Braamfontein. (Gallo)
Under a pine tree in Braamfontein cemetery in Johannesburg, a group of children from the Sparrow School sang Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, interspersing the gospel-choir arm-chugging and side-stepping with a hint of hip-hop.
The older Ikhwezi choristers later delivered a more solemn version of the song as part of a gathering on Monday organised by Johannesburg City Parks to mark the death 100 years ago of Enoch Sontonga, the man who composed the first verse, chorus and tune of the song that means ”God bless Africa”.
It is believed to have been composed in 1897 while Sontonga was a teacher and choirmaster at a Methodist school in Nancefield, Soweto, and received its first public airing at the ordination of Methodist minister Rev Boweni.
In 1912, the African National Congress sang it after its inaugural conference, and in 1923 writer and ANC co-founder Sol Plaatje recorded the song, accompanied by pianist Sylvia Colenso.
Later, poet Samuel Mqhayi added seven stanzas in Xhosa and the song was included in the Presbyterian Xhosa hymn book, and went on to be included in anthologies of poetry.
The song became the national anthem of several Southern African countries. It became a song of comfort, defiance and, finally, ceremony since it was joined with Die Stem, the anthem of the apartheid government written by CJ Langenhoven, to form South Africa’s new national anthem.
As guests on Monday prepared to lay wreaths in Sontonga’s honour, master of ceremonies Oscar Olifant asked the teenagers, from the Sparrow School in Sophiatown, to sing the original.
They were taken by surprise before the sound engineer provided a recorded version of the song. Later, the teenagers could be seen mouthing the words to the classical version of the song, subconsciously adding their faint hip-hop moves, as if to prove that it is not lost on the younger generation.
As the recorded version faded out, Olifant wistfully said: ”I could see some of you long back for the years when they could still toyi-toyi. That version brought back a lot of memories for all of us.”
Former president Nelson Mandela is famous for interrupting solemn occasions, lecturing guests that they are singing the ”wrong” anthem, and making everybody start over with the combined version.
Massive impact
Before laying a wreath for Sontonga, Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan said: ”There is no way that Sontonga and his choir could have anticipated the massive impact that his composition could have … as far afield as Kenya.”
He lamented the fact that an exercise book containing other works by Sontonga disappeared during apartheid-era forced removals in Sophiatown.
”Enoch Sontonga probably wrote many other songs as a contribution to South Africa, but this is the only one we remember, the only one we have been able to preserve.”
He urged composers, writers, artists and their families to deposit copies of their works with the national archive, whose number is listed in the blue pages of telephone directories.
”Can we as a nation afford to continue losing what potentially are national treasures solely because in the past the regime never bothered about what African people were doing?”
Later, Jordan said the national archive wants works from all cultures, ”because you never know what is going to be important to everybody”.
”Go through your granny’s suitcases … You never know what you might find there.”
Meanwhile, Ida Rabotapi, Sontonga’s granddaughter, sat quietly. After laying a wreath for her famous grandfather, whom she never knew, she said: ”I feel so proud.”
Her son, whom she named Enoch, beamed in front of the granite cube that was unveiled as a national monument to his great-grandfather in 1996, after an extensive search for his grave site.
That section of the cemetery had been levelled and the exact location of graves lost for decades.
As traffic rumbled along the busy Enoch Sontonga Drive nearby, he said: ”We feel very honoured as a family when once more the nation acknowledges and appreciates the contribution that Enoch has made. This is a great celebration.” — Sapa
