KAMCILLA PILLAY
Staff Reporter
“He can’t sing at all. In fact, I feel sorry for him.”
That was Ras Dumisani’s verdict on fellow anthem fumbler Ard Matthews’s rendition of the national anthem at the announcement of the Springbok World Cup squad on Tuesday. Dumisani, who copped plenty of flak from South Africans for his off-key performance of Nkosi Sikelel’iAfrika before the 2009 Springbok Test in Toulose, France, said he had wintessed Matthews’s faux pas on YouTube from his Paris home .
“He looks like he can’t concentrate on singing and playing the guitar at the same time – he should have got someone to accompany him,” said Dumisani.
He lambasted Matthews on his pronunciation of the Afrikaans words. “He honestly looks like he didn’t even bother to rehearse.”
Dumisani, who released a reggae version of the anthem last year, said: “When I performed in France, I was all alone. Not a single South African. What’s his excuse?”
Responding to Dumisani’, Matthews said:
“I’m not here to talk about anyone else’s performance… all I can say is I’m sorry.” – Additional reporting by Murray Williams