Outrage grows over 'horrendous' SA anthem

Please don't blame Dumisani - if IDOLS is anything to go by, there are thousands of people out there who are genuinely deluded about their singing abilities. Rather blame the stoophead from the South African Embassy who didn't do THEIR job properly. Any curious journos out their who'd be interested in uncovering this little tit-bit?

Dumisani, may have been out of tune due sound synchronisation problems or due an echo being form in the large stadium. However, not knowing the English / Afrikaans words of our national anthem and simply mumbling random words over the mic is inexcusable. As an ambassodor for our country, he should have done his homework and prepared. On the other hand, we all make mistakes and I'm sure the nation can forgive him for this blooper. Perhaps, we should be more weary of whose singing our national anthem in the future and have a screening process to avoid the same thing happening. PG

This is getting a bit ridiculous. COSATU and the YCL can get over it. It's no big deal. The rugby unions are dealing with it, and it's got nothing to do with politics.

Let's stop the pedantic behaviour. You people will jump on any bandwagon if you think it'll get you on the news. Stop being childish.

Ag, people why don't you all liven up. I thought that anthem was hilarious!!!! I can't stop listening to it and laughing. The players faces were priceless!!!!!!! Why do we always have to be so aggressive about stupid things. Besides if anybody it to blame it is the South African Embassy in France that put this man's name forward.

I am of the opinion that we should do away with the english and afrikaans bits. Nkosi sikelel' iafrika is all we need. In any event, Die stem means zip to most white english people and most don't even know the words to the english version.

Yeah! the reggae rendition wasn't that bad. I heard some of his songs; he really can sing, but he does go a bit "irie" even on his own lyrics!

He didnt just mess up the english and afrikaans lyrics he also butchered the sotho version as well. He should be arrested and deported back to ....mmhhh. Any suggestions?

Never mind Huntley, Ras NEEDS his refugee status now! It was terrible and embarrasing, but we should see the positive: 1.) Unification among all races in our anger 2.) Free publicity for SA and the Boks 3.) Now France owes us big time 4.) He lives in France not SA. 5.) Warning youth against drug-usage 6.) Now we know what genre not to use during Soccer World Cup.

Hey Kubo, ja, let's just leave him there in France so they are 'treated' to his dulcet tones. Louise Doidge is absolutely right. Build a bridge and get over it.

Hear hear, JLG, Louise Doidge, Donovan Jackson, etc. Save the outrage for the important stuff.

yeah, our embassy is to blame. But the song was a gas to watch, and yeah, those player faces. Priceless. If RSA hosts a Japanese team, do we select the appropriate performer, or do we rely on the japanese embassy here to ensure a good reading of the anthem?

Absolutely hilarious!
Whatever he is smoking is not only destroying his brain cells, it has taken it's toll on his voice.
If he thinks he "sung beautifully" I would hate to hear him on an off day.
He is famous now but somehow I do not think it is going to help his "singing" career

Come on guys. Be fair to the French here. They know we South Africans love playing the RACE card. They indulged us and gave us the RAS card. What's wrong with that?????

What is even more hilarious than the totally hilarious reggae rendition of the anthem is how the pundits are chipping in with the condemnations, and how in typical South African style, everyone is blaming everyone else!
My 3 year old does a better version which involves Nelson Mandela, promises of new cars and taxis.
But this Ras guy made my week!

I say reopen Robben Island prison and throw the Ras in there.
I also recommend solitary confinement everytime he attempts to sing. Also, play back to him a recording of his rendition of the anthem as torture.

My name is Sam Tshabalala, I was a member of the Malopoets and came to live in France in 1984. For the last 25 years I have been performing in Europe with my band and have sung on several occasions for official events organized by the South African Tourism board in Paris and for the Embassy. I am very surprized to read in the press that Ras Dumisani is the only South African musician present in France !!

Passing the buck.

How were the French supposed to do an evaluation of how well the recommended singer sang the SA anthem? Wouldn’t this be more appropriate done by embassy officials or were they too busy with “more important” affairs?

Typically of SA these days was the initial hysteria and condemnation of the French (the other). We have seen it before with the Semenya affair.

Before casting blame on the external others, a very convenient approach SAns are increasingly taking with important issues these days, take a look within.

I'm french and I was present in Toulouse for the match. Being fond of South Africa, I was looking forward to singing your anthem (which I know by heart) simply because it is a beautiful one and also to commune with the players and the attendance . Unfortunately, the way this guy sang the anthem was just ridiculous and I was sad for the south africans attending the match. I do not know who is to blame for that but I guess, for the future one has to think about using more "classical" ways to sing anthems for this kind of puropose and to keep ridiculous ones for private jokes (we do also have stupid versions of La Marseillaise..). So please forgive, whoever is responsible for this.
But what a great moment of rugby!

I have heard better singing from my next-door neighbour's rooster, in the early hours of dawn. I feel embarassed for Ras. His excuse about bad sound equipment may have been believable if he had know all the words to the anthem in the first place. what a joke!

The delivery of the anthem matched the delivery on the field....

I don't know.... I think that the delivery of the anthem was rather pertinent and reflective of the state of governance in South Africa.

At last some people are waking up to a sense of national pride!!
Question 1: How many S Africans can in fact sing the whole anthem?
Question 2: How many "loyal" fans happily fly the flag upside down, thereby conceding surrender? (The one fan in the video footage even has the flag upside down on his face.)
I don't blame the French for being confused ... In footage of every sport (boxing, cricket, you name it) at least one fan flies the flag upside down.

Robin, my thought exactly.

The responsibility lies with the organisers, in this case the French Rugby Union and whoever they hired to run the event. I am not sure who out there thinks that ambassadorial staff have a responsibility, or a qualification, to interview and assess singers - or strippers or clowns for that matter. When hundreds of thousands of Euros are spent staging a globally-televised event, you can bet your bottom dollar that somewhere in the mix is an event organizing company. If you're dropping R500K on a company party, do you let the network tech choose the band?!? Or the chairman of the board do the flower-arranging? Or do you hire professionals? And when you have a thirty-piece orchestra supporting a three-piece ensemble, perhaps you, as that professional who decided to assume the only South African singer living in France was competent, would consider a rehearsal? The whole continent of Africa ended up with egg on its face on Friday night - even in South Africa thousands of observers blamed the fiasco on African incompetence as soon as they possibly could - yes, you know who you are, the usual gleefully spiteful crowd. And anyone who thinks this is not an issue has got zip zero nada understanding of the power of perception. Finally, if you actually watched the game and know anything about rugby, you would have noticed that the Springboks did not go out there firing, and looked at sixes and sevens from the kick-off - a far cry from the zero defect unit that undid NZ and Australia repeatedly earlier in the year. In their own words (John Smit and Victor Matfield, the two most senior players, neither of whom are guys who make excuses and both of whom are guys who tell it like it is) they were affected by the hash made of the national anthem.

It's a NATIONAL anthem, a solemn national symbol not a kareoke singer at whoopy company party. Who better to approach for advice on national symbols than the embassy of that nation? The FFR played this one 100% by the protocol book.

And, if they hand you a genuine indigenous Zulu, even one with a unique sound and an odd coiffure, they are saying his rendition will have their approval. It's really not a very good look for a Frenchman to tell an embassy-approved indigenous South African professional muso how to sing his own national anthem.

So, no fault on the FFR. Boo to the embassy.

Had South Africa won this match would the anthem and the quality of it's rendition have resulted in so much hot air? I doubt it, sore losers. If an anthem makes a team (or even a country) then sad and vacuous is this team...

And shameful is the M&G for stoking a lower than gutter non-debate. If Malema enters the fray respected rags should know that it is time to refrain.

Hey, Mukai
I don't think you need to be au fait with our anthem to make a quick judgement call on Ras's singing creds. His rendition stank. Even a tone deaf French rugby official could tell that. Plus SA won the world cup there a couple of years ago, so the French should have heard our anthem enough times by now.

Ras's version of 'Die Stem' is definitely influenced by La Marseillaise.

We need to start asking questions and maybe Dumisani has provided us with that opportunity. Is the current national anthem relevant? Is it instilling nationalism? Is it inspiring. Many people will say no to this questions. We need to start addressing the question of a national anthem now. This anthem was agreed upon at a particular time to serve a specific purpose and that has expired. Let us dream and write a new anthem that addresses our current situation, that all of us will own.

Ras Dumisani would make ANY anthem sound ridiculous.

agg, man no big deal...

I'm not South African and I love your anthem. Fact is, it's admired around the world as one of the best.... Don't change it for heaven's sake!
Clearly Ras is to blame here. Every South African should be able to string together a few words and sing their anthem half-decently, especially a professionl singer! Ras was baked off his head and thought that he could get away without practising it.

what is important now is to find a way to avoid such mess in the future. Why not have (for every country) a decent recording made of each national Anthem and only allow that recording to be played before international games. I am French, I lived in South Africa in the 50's and love the Country (I still have quite a few friends there (PE and Capetown) I am a supporter of the Boks (except when they play the French of course) Hope the 2010 soccer world competition will be a success and that the whole world will see what the country has become 14 years after the end of Apartheit. Tot siens

Look, any idiot, even a tone-deaf brain-damaged drooling imbecile woudl have picked up, from a rehearsal or try out, that Ras was not up to the job. Its clear that Ras was not good enough. Okay, now let's get off his case and let him get back to singing in the shower and believing that he has a career in singing.
BUT who was the real idiot who either approved Ras' singing at the rehearsal or, worse, did not think it necessary to have a rehearsal. Lets zoom in on HIM/HER.

Leave this very beautiful anthem alone, its probably the only thing left to be proud of and I include the flag which is pure genious! Just make sure in future that the singer or performance is up to scratch.