The South African national anthem is a hybrid song that combines extracts of the 19th century Xhosa hymn "Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika" (English: "God Bless Africa") and the Afrikaans song that was used as the South African national anthem during the apartheid era, "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" (English: "The Voice of South Africa"), with new English lyrics. The lyrics of the South African national anthem employ the five most widely spoken of South Africas eleven official languages, which are Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans, and English.