Anger grows at ‘butchered’ anthem

JOHANNESBURG – South African rugby fans’ anger mounted yesterday at an off-key reggae singer who ‘butchered’ their national anthem before the Springboks’ Test match defeat to France at the weekend.

On Monday the South African Rugby Union wrote to its French counterpart expressing the nation’s dismay at the performance before Friday night’s match in Toulouse by an artist know as Ras Dumisani.’As a union we were shocked and horrified by the rendition of the anthem, and I contacted the French Federation on Saturday morning to express our very grave concerns,’ said the union’s president Oregan Hoskins.Dumisani told local station Talk Radio 702 that he blamed the equipment for the poor sound, insisting that he had ‘sung beautifully’, but that did little to douse the public outrage at his off-key performance of the four-language anthem.The Young Communist League of South Africa described Dumisani’s rendition of the anthem as ‘horrendous’.’Ras Dumisani is a chancer, a con-artist, a howler of note and a disgrace to our country and must be banned from singing the national anthem on official functions,’ said the league in a statement.The league said whoever hired Dumisani should be brought to book and urged the government to compile a list of capable artists to avoid future embarrassments, especially ahead of next year’s football World Cup.Rugby fans have already filled websites with their anger, and a Facebook group ‘Ban Ras Dumisani from ever singing again’ won 600 members just hours after opening.’What an embarrassment, nevermind disappointment. It should never have happened,’ said one posting on the page.Another fan wrote on The Times newspaper’s website: ‘I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry when I heard this nutcase doing something between howling and screaming our national anthem — what a national disgrace.’ – Nampa-AFP