Regardless of the singer's original language, the lyrics are performed in various languages. Mzilikazi Khumalo organized the first half of the song, while Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph, who also penned the last stanza, orchestrated the second half. The anthem was written by Paul Ernst Thandiwe and composed by Raymond Philemon Singane. It was first sung on 11 April 1910 at the Governor's Palace in Cape Town during the opening ceremony for the first All-African Conference which aimed to unite Africa under one government. The conference ended without any agreement and later that year another conference was held where it was again refused to accept proposals for a union. Since then, the anthem has been used at many public events including the opening of parliament sessions, royal weddings, and state funerals. Although not officially recognized as such, it is believed that Xhosa is the first language of both authors. However, they were born into a linguistically diverse society so it is possible that they could have understood some words of another language. There are several theories about what languages were spoken by Thandiwe and Singane but none can be verified since no records exist. What is known is that both men were fluent speakers of English and were part of the intellectual elite of their time.