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Mixed reactions to Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika’ being voted best national anthem

Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika' has been voted for as the world's best national anthem.
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There are mixed reactions on social media over news of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika’ having been voted the world’s best national anthem.  This came out in a poll conducted among readers of the respected international magazine, The Economist.

The magazine has noted that the anthem’s lyrics are taken mainly from the classic struggle hymn in Xhosa, Zulu and Sesotho, but combines them with Afrikaans and English from the country’s previous national anthem in an act of musical healing for the Rainbow nation.

The Economist attributed the anthem’s success to its unifying element, being the only anthem to encompass different languages.

However, South Africans took to Twitter to express their discontent.  Some users say they do not sing the Afrikaans part of the anthem, because of South Africa’s apartheid past while others have expressed their excitement about the “win”.

The anthem’s first two stanzas were compiled by the late Enoc Sontonga and became the African National Congress’s official anthem since 1925.

Sontonga’s anthem also inspired a number of national anthems on the African continent.

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