Enoch Sontonga

Enoch Mankayi Sontonga (ca. 1873 – 18 April 1905) was the composer of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika (God Bless Africa) from then Cape Colony (now part of Eastern Cape province), which has been part of the South African national anthem since 1994. It was the official anthem of the African National Congress since 1925 and is still the national anthem of Tanzania and Zambia. It was also sung in Zimbabwe and Namibia for many years.

Life

Sontonga, a Xhosa, was born in the city of Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape Colony. He trained as a teacher at the Lovedale Institution and subsequently worked as a teacher and choirmaster at the Methodist Mission school in Nancefield, near Johannesburg for eight years.

Sontonga married Diana Mgqibisa and had a son. His wife died in 1929.

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, but others note that the tune (Aberystwyth) was written by Joseph Parry and Sontonga wrote new words. It was first sung in public in 1899 at the ordination of Reverend Mboweni, who was the first Tsonga Methodist minister. Later the Xhosa poet Samuel Mqhayi wrote a further seven verses.