One thousand South Africans virtually perform the anthem

Freedom day’s annual message of unity in diversity did not fail to prevail. With the country under lockdown it just moved online. Over a thousand South Africans, joined by over 50 artists, sang the national anthem in a video, making waves on social media.

As South Africa commemorates 26 years of its democratic freedom, #AnthemChallengeRSA video has made waves on social media as artists and ordinary citizens have virtually commemorated the day through singing the national anthem, under theme “unity in diversity”.

Although the #AnthemChallengeRSA was not initially created to serenade South Africans on Freedom day, it came as a sweet gesture in tough times.

Music director and organiser of the initiative, James Bassingthwaighte, said between the end of March – the start of lockdown – a group of over 50 performing artists came together, virtually, to perform the national anthem as part of the #AnthemChallengeRSA.

“I am blessed to have a lot of artist friends. I initially asked a few of them but it eventually grew to 50 as other artists wanted to contribute too. It grew into something much bigger – a national and historic moment of hope that we will be able to look back on with immense pride, ” Bassingthwaighte said.

He said each of the artists recorded their rendition individually at home, the recordings were combined into a single video and shared across social media with an invitation to all South Africans: JOIN US.

He said more than 1 000 people answered to the call and submitted their videos.

“The process of receiving all the video submissions was both exhilarating and emotional.

“It took a significant amount of bravery to put yourself on the spot and perform an anthem in five different languages to a video camera. More than 1 000 ordinary South Africans rose to the challenge.

“We easily managed to fill the 1 000 slots we were hoping to achieve and are actually still receiving submissions as we speak,” he said.

Bassingthwaighte added that the submissions varied from groups of friends, choirs, recorder players, families and entire orchestras.

“It really was amazing to see the ingenuity and the support that this project attracted from South Africans under lockdown.”

He said the anthem was even more important during this time as people are going through tough times and the “Nkosi izwa imithandazo yethu – Lord hear our prayers” lyric was a prayer most people have.

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