S.E.K. Mqhayi

Date: 29 July, 1945

Samuel Edward Krune Mqhayi, Xhosa poet, prose writer and educator, died at Ntab'ozuko, near King William's Town, Transkei. His first collection of poems, Imihobe nemiBongo (1927) included 'Nkosi sikelel' iAfrica'. The words of the first stanza and chorus were originally written in Xhosa as a hymn by Enoch Sontonga in 1897. Sontonga also composed the music, while Mqhayi added seven additional Xhosa stanzas in 1927.

Sources:

1. Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 7, p. 628.
2. http://www.answers.com/topic/samuel-edward-krune-mqhayi
3. http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/history/sontonga100.htm