One Anthem for United South Africa

After the first free South African elections, as a sign of the beginning of the "New South Africa," we now have two national anthems -- "Nkosi Sikelel'i Afrika" and "Die Stem." While I believe that both hymns are beautiful in their praise of Africa and its people, they have, over the years, come to represent the plight of the oppressed and the cry of the oppressor. During the African National Congress' thirty year exile, "Nkosi Sikelel'i Afrika" became one of the few permissible resistance songs to oppressive white rule.