Fury over racist spoof anthem

INLSA

Racist spoof anthem in KFC ruffles feathers

Barbara Maregele

and Aziz Hartley

POPPING into a fried chicken outlet turned out not so finger-licking good for a city resident when he had to listen to a “profane and vulgar” rendition of the national anthem played at full blast.

Tariq Mellett was on his way to the airport when he stopped to buy a burger at the KFC’s Buitenkant Street branch in Gardens.

“While I was waiting in line, a song started playing over the music system in the shop. It sounded like parts of the national anthem, but I was surprised when the song started in Afrikaans with: Nkosi Sikelel’… Nkosi is ‘n d**s, Mandela is ‘n f*kk*n k****r… and so on, at full blast,” he said.

KFC said it would investigate.

Mellet, from Rondebosch East, said: “Two other customers and I were flabbergasted by the vulgarity, profanity and racism being belted out in a popular family restaurant.

“We shouted at the staff to put the music off, but this was only done after some time.

“I was in a rush to catch my flight, but I managed to contact the KFC manager to report the incident.

“They had a policy about music as it should be in the interest of the brand.”

Mellet said as a South African, he felt “insulted” by the profane

language used to mock the national anthem. “This was a clear indication of the kind of racism that is rampant in the city, which could threaten our relations and tourism industry,” he said.

Store manager Malika Isaacs refused to comment and referred queries to Craig Davids, KFC’s operational manager in the Western Cape.

Contacted at the time, Davids said: “We are in the process of looking into the matter, I can’t comment until we have checked it out.”

He said the query had been referred to Yum Restaurants, KFC’s franchisor. Calls made to Yum Restaurants went unanswered.

Attempts to contact Davids again yesterday drew a blank. barbara.maregele@inl.co.za aziz.hartley@inl.co.za