There's three countries at the Africa Cup of Nations with very similar national anthems!
Here's why...
What's the story?
South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia have all played their first round matches at this year's Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast.
What the three nations have in common is the similarities of their national anthems, all of which were composed by a South African.
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Let's take a closer look...
Here's Why three AFCON teams have similar anthems
Tanzania and Zambia played their first AFCON 2024 matches on Wednesday evening, with the former going down 3-0 to Morocco and the latter holding the Democratic Republic of Congo to a 1-1 draw.
South on the other hand were outclassed by the Malians in a 2-0 defeat, sliding down to the bottom of Group E. What SA, Tanzania and Zambia have in common besides being SADC (Southern African Development Community) nations, are their anthems.
South Africa's "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" was composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a Methodist mission school teacher, as written on the gov.za website, which was originally written in Xhosa as a hymn.
"Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika was popularised at concerts held in Johannesburg by Reverend JL Dube's Ohlange Zulu Choir. It became a popular church hymn that was later adopted as an anthem at political meetings. It was sung as an act of defiance during the Apartheid years," according to the SA Government website.
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Sontonga's hymm was translated into Swahili for Tanzania's national anthem "Mungu ibariki Afrika" and was adopted by Zambia as part of their anthem in 1960.
As per sahistory.org, "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika," is a prayer for God's blessing on the land and was repurposed into a resistance song by 1925 when it became the official anthem of the African National Congress.
Bafana Bafana will hope to keep their AFCON dreams alive when taking on neighbours Namibia on Sunday evening at 22:00 SA time and before that game, the Taifa Stars clash with Chipolopolo at 19:00.
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