What the Hell?!! ....does the South African National Anthem mean

I'm a South African and like alot of us ignorant types, I have no real idea what the whole anthem means. So I thought in case anyone else out there is curious or maybe wants to show off to his mates, check out the anthem followed by the translation.

SOUTH AFRICAN ANTHEM:Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika

Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,
Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.

Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa la matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa South Afrika - South Afrika.

Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,

Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.

TRANSLATION:

Lord, bless Africa
May her spirit rise high up
Hear thou our prayers
Lord bless us.

Lord, bless Africa
Banish wars and strife
Lord, bless our nation
Of South Africa.

Ringing out from our blue heavens
From our deep seas breaking round
Over everlasting mountains
Where the echoing crags resound ...


History of the South African National Anthem
Source: http://www.anc.org.za/misc/nkosi.html#hist

History
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika was composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a teacher at a Methodist mission school in Johannesburg. It was one of many songs he composed, and he was apparently a keen singer who composed the songs for his pupils.

Enoch Sontonga

The words of the first stanza were originally written in Xhosa as a hymn. In 1927 seven additional Xhosa stanzas were later added by Samuel Mqhayi, a poet.

Most of Sontonga's songs were sad, witnessing the suffering of African people in Johannesburg, but they were popular and after his death in 1905 choirs used to borrow them from his wife.

Solomon Plaatje, one of South Africa's greatest writers and a founding member of the ANC, was the first to have the song recorded. This was in London in 1923. A Sesotho version was published in 1942 by Moses Mphahlele.

The Rev J L Dube's Ohlange Zulu Choir popularised Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika at concerts in Johannesburg, and it became a popular church hymn that was also adopted as the anthem at political meetings.

For decades Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika was regarded as the national anthem of South Afrika by the oppressed and it was always sung as an act of defiance against the apartheid regime. A proclamation issued by the State President on 20 April 1994 stipulated that both Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika and Die Stem (the Call of South Africa) would be the national anthems of South Africa. In 1996 a shortened, combined version of the two anthems was released as the new National Anthem.

There are no standard versions or translations of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika so the words vary from place to place and from occasion to occasion. Generally the first stanza is sung in Xhosa or Zulu, followed by the Sesotho version.

What the hell....is Racism?!!

WHAT THE HELL AM I TALKING ABOUT:I've never really understood racism, what is it about my skin pigmentation that makes me believe I'm better than someone else? Does my skin colour really make it easier for me to get a job, walk around a supermarket without security following me around or determine my intelligence?

1994 spelt a change for the South African people. No longer were laws going to prevent races from mingling freely, or separate each other. The nation was now united! Change had come right?!

My perception, however warped, is one shared by many of the millions of South Africans my age. Having been born in the late 70s and growing up in the 80s and 90, we've lived with Apartheid and seen the coming of freedom. My thought is that no matter how we try and change our mind sets, the ideals of racism affect our every thought, conversation and way we look at each other. There's no getting away from it.


Here's an example, The South African population was split up into the following groups, White, Black, Indian, Coloured.
1. Within the "White" catergory there is a split between the English and the Afrikaaner.
2. Within the "Black" catergory are all the tribes living within the borders e.g Xhosa, Zulu, Pedi etc.
3. Within the "Indian" community, their are various peoples split down religious groups and geographically namely, Hindu, Tamil, Moslem, Arab, Indian etc
4. Within the "Coloured" community, originally known as people of mixed ethnic groups, but generally equated with people of Khoi - San origins.

The interesting legacy which maybe Apartheid or perhaps general Human Nature has left us with is a tendency to not only judge each other based on the aforementioned groups but to judge each other within groups.

Things like, is your hair curly or straight, do you speak English or Afrikaans, is your skin lighter than mine, and thus we have mini racial splits within each and every group.

Daily occurences whether it be amongst friends, in the workplace or even driving have deep racial and even gender prejudices running through them. We see a rich "White" man, it's because he got money from his parents, we see a bad taxi driver and we think all "black" people drive this way and my favourites, we see a "Coloured" person and we wonder what he's going to steal and the list goes on and on.

QUESTION:
Can we actually live in this beautiful country of ours and not judge, degrade or torment each other but live in splendid harmony or is that just an idealistic thought which can never be achieved?