There are certain things that really make one feel South African. It might be gathering around a braai and sharing a boerie with mates, busting out a good ‘Shosholoza’ as Bafana stutter to another defeat or even dipping our toes in the Atlantic and watching tourists recoil in horror at the sub-zero temperatures. Lekker boet, now go spend your pounds and dollars and euros so the rest of us can pay the bills.

Then there’s singing the national anthem, the quintessential nation-building moment where we come together as one voice. Not, however, if you ask the EFF, who aren’t too happy with its current form. TimesLive reports:

The EFF‚ in a statement acknowledging the 52nd anniversary of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU)‚ said Die Stem “represents a direct conscious assault on African Unity”.

“This is because Die Stem celebrates the apartheid regime which killed and massacred black people‚ not in South Africa only‚ but also in Southern Africa as a whole in promotion of white supremacy and white minority rule‚” EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Quintin Ndlozi said.

“The EFF calls for the national anthem to only be Nkosi Sikelela as it was sang in the liberation struggle‚ also because it mobilised our people’s consciousness on a continental as opposed to narrow nationalist grounds.”

They also had stern words for Swaziland and their leader King Mswati III, saying his dictatorial leadership undermines the ideals of democracy and urging the South African government to exert pressure on the king.

Somewhere out there Ras Dumisani (he of the ultimate national anthem butchering) is breathing a sigh of relief at the possibility of never having to sing ‘Die Stem’ again.

[source:timeslive]