The Day of the Vow

Also forgotten (momentarily) in Walt's rush to get ready for Christmas Winter Holiday was the commemoration by Afrikaners around the world of the Day of the Vow (Geloftedag, in Afrikaans) , December 16th.

The Vow refers to a promise to God made during the Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838. About 400 Voortrekkers vowed that if God rescued them out of the hands of the approximately 20,000 Zulu warriors they were facing, they would honour that day as a sabbath day in remembrance of what God did for them. 

Originally called Dingaansdag (Dingaan's Day), December 16th was made an annual national holiday in 1910, before being renamed Day of the Vow in 1982. In 1994, after the end of Apartheid, it was officially replaced by the Day of Reconciliation, an annual holiday also on December 16th. But, as noted above, many still celebrate it unofficially.

So you'll be ready for it next December 16th, or in case you've forgotten, Walt is please to present here Die Stem van Suid-Afrika, also known as "The Call of South Africa" or simply "Die Stem", the national anthem of South Africa from 1938 to 1994. It is sung here first in Afrikaans, then in English. 

 

That South Africa is now gone with the wind -- the ill wind of anti-colonialism that swept through African in the second half ot the 20th century, bringing good to no-one, including those the fight for majority rule was meant to help. The colour of the rulers changed, but the lot of the ruled only got worse. "Mother Africa Wins Again."