No end to Umshini Wami.

2007-12-23 10:02

Polokwane - Some call it brainless, others inappropriate in the post-apartheid era but Jacob Zuma, the new leader of the ANC, is in no mood to stop singing his "machine gun" signature tune.

"If you erase the songs, you erase the record of history," said Zuma of the anthem which has become a familiar accompaniment to his rollercoaster ride from courthouse to the presidency of South Africa's ruling party.

Sung in Zulu, the song Umshini Wami translates as "Bring Me My Machine gun" with a chorus that is endlessly repeated.

It was first popularised by members of the ANC's armed wing during the armed struggle against the erstwhile whites-only apartheid regime in which Zuma played a leading role as chief of intelligence.

But 13 years on from the ANC's triumph in the first multi-racial elections, it is not only the white minority who feel the song should be confined to the archives rather than still used as a rallying call.

'Who are you fighting?'

"The song has military character used during the struggle against apartheid and it's no longer relevent today," Andrew Mlangeni, a former ANC combatant, said.

"It basically says: 'Give me my weapon, I am going to fight apartheid'. Who are you fighting? Your own people? The fight is over and that song must no longer be sung," added Mlangeni who, like Zuma, served time on the notorious Robben Island penal colony for his part in the anti-apartheid campaign.

In an attempt to forge a new sense of unity in the post-apartheid era, South Africa adopted a hybrid national anthem which includes verses in five different languages - Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Sesotho and English.

But while the national anthem was dutifully sung by delegates at last week's ANC conference, the atmosphere was electrified when Zuma supporters began singing Umshini Wami.

Critics of the song not only feel uneasy about the lyrics but also that Zulus, South Africa's largest ethnic group, have embraced it as their unofficial anthem in a country where tribalism is frowned upon.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa 'Terror' Lekota, who has also criticised Zuma supporters for wearing T-shirts with the words "100 percent Zulu Boy", sparked fury in some quarters for calling those who sang the song "brainless".

However his cabinet colleague Pallo Jordan said it was wrong to see the song as being necessarily divisive.

"In any revolution one of the mobilising tools is culture and music .... Why should we abandon it?" Jordan, the minister for arts and culture, said.

Song about solidarity

The row over Umshini Wami echoes a similar controversy over the success last year of called De La Rey about a long-dead general from the Boer War which was latched on to by Afrikaaners to express their identity.

Zuma, who has been going out of his way recently to build bridges with the Arikaaner community, said both songs celebrated the different communities' heritage.

"You've heard me defend De La Rey. That was one of the greatest generals South Africa has ever produced. Afrikaners, if they did not sing about De La Rey, who else would they sing about?" Zuma said in a recent interview.

As well as being sung at the conference, it was also chanted by supporters during a 2006 trial when Zuma was ultimately cleared of rape and at other court appearances in connection with a corruption inquiry.

Zola Skweyiya, a former member of the ANC's armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe cadre and who now also sits in Mbeki's cabinet, said the song was first designed to forge solidarity among fighters in their camps in exile in the 1960s, and it is "still about solidarity".

"The song is about solidarity, togetherness for a common goal. It is part and parcel of our history and we can't wipe it out," he said.

"Just like in church, everyone had his favourite song. The ANC is a broad church."

- AFP