A couple evenings ago I was privileged enough to attend a rather exciting event in Stellenbosch; the Oscar and Rose Mpethe Memorial Lecture, with the guest speaker being none other than our deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe.
As interesting as the lectures were it is the opening which I wish to discuss. This lecture was opened by none other than the Stellenbosch University Choir. Many of you know that it recently won world championship titles in two categories and have read that it is an amazing choir. I was slightly sceptical but not enough to go out and find out for myself.
Well, let me tell you that any doubts that I may have had, have been completely extinguished.
They all stood quietly in front of me and were lead by a single note, but from the moment that first note hit my ears till the very last clap from the enthusiastic audience I was completely enraptured. I had goose bumps from beginning to end and it was the first time since the last Rugby World Cup since I have felt that patriotic.
As the choir sounded out the last line of our national anthem my heart soared with such hope and praise that I was nearly overwhelmed by tears.
It was in this very moment that I realized that our national anthem is truly amazing. It instils in me, as it does in so many other South African’s, hope for a better future, knowledge that we are fighting for a country we truly believe in and a fierce pride which in cannot be compromised by any political mess up.
And then, with tears in my eyes, and hurt in my heart I realized that there is a large group of South Africans who oppose our anthem. There are some who believe that the Afrikaans and English parts should be edited from the anthem as they represent an era in South Africa’s history that they are determined to abolish completely.
And as I look at tomorrow’s heritage day, I wonder why South Africans bother to celebrate it when our politicians seem hell bent on doing everything they can to obliterate our very heritage.
I am the first to say that Apartheid was unjust and incorrect, and I truly believe that every single South African should be treated as an equal, no more, no less. However I think it is very important that we remember that not everything that came out of that era in our history is negative.
Die Stem does in fact represent a time in our history when the Afrikaans was in power but that does not mean that the words are not beautiful and that the lyrics do not represent our true South African diversity.
South Africa’s National Anthem is the most diverse anthem and truly represents our Rainbow Nation and it truly saddens me that some people are saddened by it, especially after hearing it sung by the best choir in the world.
Our Anthem represents our country and our battle for freedom with diversity. To lose it would be a travesty.
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