SOHIE
Die Stem van Suid-Afrika
Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes
Waar die kranse antwoord gee.
Deur ons vêr verlate vlaktes
Met die kreun van ossewa.
Ruis die stem van ons geliefde,
Van ons land Suid-Afrika.
Ons sal antwoord op jou roepstem,
Ons sal offer wat jy vra:
Ons sal lewe, ons sal sterwe,
Ons vir jou, Suid-Afrika.
First verse, C.J. Langenhoven, 1918
The Call of South Africa
From the blue of our heaven
From the depths of our sea,
Over our eternal mountain ranges
Where the cliffs give answer
Through our far-deserted plains
With the groan of ox-wagon
Rustles the voice of our beloved,
Of our country South Africa
We will answer to your calling,
We will offer what you ask
We will live, we will die
We for Thee, South Africa.
Literal translation in English
The Great Trek was an eastward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon from the Cape Colony, into the interior of modern South Africa from 1835 to 1846.
They crossed the treacherous Drakensberg mountains, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial administration. It led to the displacement of the Northern Ndebele people, and was a decisive factor influencing the decline and collapse of the Zulu Empire.
"Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" was the national anthem of South Africa from 1957 to 1994. The anthem speaks of commitment to the fatherland and to God. It was however contested as it was deemed triumphalist and associated with the apartheid regime, where the first verse refers to the Great Trek and shows dedication to Afrikaner history.