Not only did singer Ras Dumisani massacre the South African national anthem but the country's flag was hung upside down at the Toulouse stadium where the Boks lost to France at the weekend.
South African diplomats attending the game immediately brought this to the attention of the French authorities, but were told it was too late to put things right.
Ras Dumisani singing the national anthem
That's according to a statement issued by the South African embassy in Paris on Monday in the wake of the furore over Durban-born Dumisani's hapless performance. Continues Below ↓
The embassy noted "with concern" media reports suggesting that it was responsible for selecting Dumisani to sing at the event.
In the statement, issued by Saul Molobi of the Department of International Relations and Co-operation in Pretoria, it says it provided the French Rugby Union with Dumisani's agent's name as it was the only name of a South African singer living in France in its possession.
Ras Dumisani performing one of his own songs
"This was not a recommendation from the embassy since the embassy had no previous exposure to his performance nor is he a renowned performer," the statement said.
During a later meeting with officials from the Midi-Pyrenees Rugby Union in Toulouse, another request for a South African singer living in France to sing the anthem was made.
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Showing page 1 of 2 comment pages, 20 total comments
12 Weeks ago Mumba Caramba wrote :
Dumisani must be jailed.....and the person that put the flag upside down ....must be sent to the French Guilotine......hehehehehe
12 Weeks ago Raven wrote :
@ Rossie, I am in agreement with you. I think we should let the Schalkinator loose on both the putz that hung our flag upside down and the Howler. Just add Bakkies into the frey for good measure. Outcome= no Howler, no French arrogance!
12 Weeks ago Cobus wrote :
To those who feel this is trivial, where's your pride? Our Anthem and Flag represents our country worldwide, and no nation has the right to disgrace it in such a manner. We do have our problems here at home, but that doesn't mean we should accept being made fun of overseas.
12 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
Ooh heh eh!
12 Weeks ago cana-C Town wrote :
With all the stuff-ups at home and not one of the gov. kronnies being held responsible, being done away with, what are we to expect but our foreign representatives to behave in the same manner, ie. "we tried, we are aware of the problem, we will see to it" etc. etc. What a shame on all of us.
12 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
Oh, what a joke. But I am sure that SAR could have come up with R10 000 to fly someone there to make us proud. No wonder they lost!!!
12 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
Doom-asani and Kak-owski was the joke of the nite Both of them lost their balls
12 Weeks ago K man wrote :
A stuff up, for sure - but hardly front page news! We make things worse when we elevate such trivial matters to banner headlines. And as for the flag, I can't tell you how many times I've seen it flying upside down from Government buildings - never mind at foreign events.
12 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
I think that the gentleman sang the anthem very very well with a smoky vibe to it. He did us proud portraying us as the one and only Banana Republic. As for the Springboks they were butchered , left bleeding and totally outplayed. 2nd Class !
Annie
12 Weeks ago Krantz wrote :
Not saying what this guy has done is good but if SA had won you'd all be laughing about this now.