Enoch Mankayi Sontonga ( – 18 April 1905) was a South African

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

, who is best known for writing the Xhosa hymn "

Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (, ) is a Christian hymn originally composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a Xhosa clergyman at a Methodist mission school near Johannesburg. The song became a pan-African liberation song and versions of it were later ad ...

" (), which, in abbreviated version, has been sung as the first half of the national anthem of South Africa since 1994. Previously, it had been the official anthem of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

since 1925. It was also adopted by South Africa's newly formed northern neighbour, Zimbabwe and translated into Shona, " Ishe Komborera Afrika" from 1980 until 1994.

Early life and education

Sontonga, a

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

, was born in the city of

Uitenhage Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port E ...

in the Eastern

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with ...

. He trained as a teacher at the

Lovedale Institution Lovedale, also known as the Lovedale Missionary Institute was a mission station and educational institute in the Victoria East division of the Cape Province, South Africa (now in Eastern Cape Province). It lies above sea level on the banks of the ...

and subsequently worked as a teacher and choirmaster at the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

Mission school in Nancefield, near

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

for eight years.Enoch Mankayti Sontonga
SAHistory.org.za, accessed July 2013

Career

The first verse and chorus of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" was composed in 1897 and it was originally intended to be a school anthem. Some sources say he wrote the tune the same year,Remembering Sontonga
SouthAfrica.info, accessed July 2013 but others contend that the tune was written by

Joseph Parry Joseph Parry (21 May 1841 – 17 February 1903) was a Welsh composer and musician. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, he is best known as the composer of " Myfanwy" and the hymn tune "Aberystwyth", on which the African song " Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" ...

as "

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location i ...

" and that Sontonga merely wrote new words.Joseph Parry's Te Deum: Premiere for lost composition
James McLaren, "012, BBC News, retrieved 22 June 2014 It was first sung in public in 1899 at the

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

of Reverend Mboweni, who was the first Tsonga Methodist minister. Later the Xhosa poet

Samuel Mqhayi Samuel Edward Krune Mqhayi (S. E. K. Mqhayi, 1 December 1875 – 29 July 1945) was a Xhosa dramatist, essayist, critic, novelist, historian, biographer, translator and poet whose works are regarded as instrumental in standardising the gramma ...

wrote a further seven verses. Sontonga died in April 1905.

Personal life

Sontonga married Diana Mgqibisa, the daughter of a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and they had a son. Mgqibisa died in 1929.

Legacy

The song started to be more well known after

John Langalibalele Dube John Langalibalele Dube (22 February 1871 – 11 February 1946) was a South African essayist, philosopher, educator, politician, publisher, editor, novelist and poet. He was the founding president of the South African Native National Congress ( ...

's Ohlange Institute's choir used it. They played it at the

South African Native National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

meeting in 1912. It was sung after the closing prayer and the ANC adopted it as its official closing anthem in 1925. It was recorded in London as "Nkosi sikelel’ iAfrika" in 1923 and it was published by the Lovedale Press in 1927. For many years, the site of Sontonga's grave was unknown, but it was finally located in the "

Native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

" section of the

Braamfontein Braamfontein (English: ''blackberry spring'', or more prosaicly ''blackberry springs''; also known as Braam) is a central suburb of Johannesburg, in South Africa, seat of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and some of South Africa's major c ...

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

in the early-1990s. One of the reasons why the location of his grave remained a mystery is that it was listed under the name "Enoch" and not by his surname "Sontonga". On 24 September 1996, Sontonga's grave was declared a national monument and a memorial on the site was unveiled by then-

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

. At the same ceremony, the South African Order of Meritorious Service (Gold) was bestowed on Enoch Sontonga posthumously.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sontonga, Enoch Mankayi 1873 births 1905 deaths People from Uitenhage Xhosa people South African Protestants South African composers South African male composers National anthem writers Xhosa-language poets Xhosa-language writers 19th-century male musicians

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Legacy

See also

References