Rise Africa!
Sons and Daughters of the soil
Whose blood, sweat, tears and toil
Was sacrificed, and they died;
In an endeavour to unlock the tight-grip of segregation
That had coiled its way around us like the biblical serpent

Rise Africa!
Rise and shine like the sun that will never set
For today I summon up the fallen spirits of Sharpeville,
The scattered lifeless bodies murdered in cold-blood—the martyrs of our struggle—
I say to them: “Walk free on these streets, wander them like a lost traveller
And see these kids—whom their freedom you’ve died for;
Taste the fruit of your toil, for it was never in vain…”

Rise Africa!
Rise like the waves of the sea
For today a black man –in this land you died for— is free;
No need to carry a pass, no need to call a white man a baas!
Equality! Dignity! That is what your death bought us
It eliminated the sense of inferiority within us and made us strong
So, today we all are singing a new song—
A song that you so yearned to sing but never got the chance
Its rhythm and tune you so much longed for, but for it you’ve never danced!

However, it’s not all lost—
For Africa, the land of your birth is free;
Free from prejudice and unjustified hatred based on pigmentation
We are now a rainbow nation, we are rising like the waves of the ocean
We are not scared and ashamed to celebrate our existence
And say we are Africans; we owe our being to the brave heroes who broke the silence
And stood up for what they believe in—that we are all equal

In the name of justice and democracy
I salute you Mr Sobukwe and the comrades
For rising when your country needed you to rise
For seeing the world through the eyes of the child
And sacrificing all that you had—your life;
For the freedom of the rainbow nation!
Aluta Continua—Ibuyile iAfrika!