Man cries fowl over race-riddled SA anthem

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

Tariq Mellet was on his way to the airport when he stopped to buy a burger at the KFC in Gardens.

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

Mellet 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 off the music, but this was only done after some time.

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

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 our tourism industry.”

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

He said: “We are 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 to Yum Restaurants went unanswered. – Barbara Maregele and Aziz Hartley