Soon after making a real mess of South Africa’s national anthem, Kurt Darren has won some support from an unlikely source – African National Congress (ANC) Head of Elections Fikile Mbalula.
Darren has been the subject of much fury and jokes on social media after mixing up and forgetting words in the Sesotho part of the anthem.
The award-winning singer was performing the anthem at a Varsity Cup rugby match at Stellenbosch University on Monday night when he made the blunder.
South Africans on social media were quick to pounce on him, slamming him for “disrespecting” African languages.
However, some came to Darren’s defence, arguing that he simply made a mistake.
Among them was Fikile Mbalula, who asked Darren to apologise so everyone can move on.
In an interview with radio presenter Eusebius McKaiser on Tuesday, Darren said he had “messed up one line” and couldn’t understand the backlash.
Why on earth am I trending? Is it really news? Yes, I messed up one line in the anthem but singing in front of 20,000 students at a Varsity Cup and singing at a test match is a completely different animal.
Kurt Darren