Forget your inhibitions and go ‘learn the damn anthem’

Singing the South African national anthem is a powerful and emotional moment at public events, but behind the soaring melody and uplifting lyrics lies a complex web of cultural and political influences. 

When the North-West University (NWU) Eagles secured their place in the Varsity Cup finals on 10 April 2023, the singing of the South African national anthem revealed stark differences in how different cultural and racial groups approach the symbolic song. White supporters sang the English and especially the Afrikaans parts loudly but were subdued when it came to the isiXhosa and isiZulu in the first stanza, and Sesotho in the second.

The country is no stranger to injustice being done to its national anthem. While some people belt out the words with passion and gusto, others stand silently or mumble along, highlighting deep-seated inconsistencies in how the anthem is interpreted and embraced in today’s “new” South Africa.

“Language is enormously important to many people. They identify their heritage, they produce and reproduce their ‘culture’ and their identities [through language]. It’s a way that they navigate most of their lives,” said Hannelie Otto, communication lecturer on the NWU Potchefstroom campus with an interest in political communication. “And as much as it is a wonderful tool, it is also still segregating people.

“The [national anthem] could be representative of a lot of baggage,” said Otto. “Certain languages are associated with hegemony (predominance). There are historical reasons why people still associate or maybe even long for a nostalgic past that does not exist and that should not exist, because it was violent discrimination against groups of people.”

Fourth-year LLB student Micah Kruger believes that it might not necessarily be a white supremacy issue. “I haven’t really been confronted with inconsistencies when it comes to black South Africans singing the anthem – but when it comes to white South Africans, I’ve heard that for some reason they sing the Afrikaans part loudly. If it was the case [of white supremacy], then the English would be sung loudly as well.” He said it is not about making a statement, but about being proud of one’s mother tongue, Kruger said.

Kruger also mentioned how the volume of certain parts is entirely dependent on the event or situation. For instance, during the Varsity Cup on 10 April 2023 when the Eagles played against Maties, the Afrikaans part was sung more loudly than the other parts because most spectators were white South Africans. Both universities are historically white.

Cultural differences play a pivotal role in the way the South African national anthem is sung. Jane Rayi, a second-year communication student, said, “In most cases, I’ll start singing it slowly and then accentuating the volume because I was taught that the national anthem is like a prayer where we ask God to protect our nation as a whole – so we need to sing it softly and be reserved in doing that so that we are conscious and can feel what we are saying.”

For third-year health sciences with tourism student Michaela Krotz, the way she sings the South African national anthem is a matter of being comfortable. “I personally don’t sing it with enough excitement until it gets to the Afrikaans lyrics of the anthem. The reason is that I don’t feel comfortable enough during the other parts, and I don’t understand the lyrics, and I believe I don’t pronounce them correctly,” Krotz said.

Kruger believes that there is not a single solution to the problem. “Because at the end of the day, you cannot violate free speech as it is a core and fundamental human right. If someone decides to blurt out the Afrikaans part, you can’t take that away from them, even if it does come over as racist,” he said.

Otto said that the NWU belongs to all South Africans, and accordingly, it should be representative of its students and their languages. If the national anthem does not resonate with an individual, how socialised they are is no excuse, as “it’s every adult’s responsibility to educate themselves, and learn the damn anthem.” By Janlu Fourie and Keletso Baas