It’s not often that the national anthems upstage the forthcoming sporting occasion, especially when its South Africa vs Ireland, but that might just have been the case when KB Motsilanyane delivered a stirring performance of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika over the weekend that will be remembered for many years to come.
The singer and actress known for her roles in Backstage, Rhythm City and 7de Laan set the mark for a great day out for the Springboks.
Not only was her delivery of the anthem pitch-perfect, it also featured a unique twist for the crowd gathered at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
In the English portion of the anthem, Motsilanyane, hearing and feeling the thunderous rendition from the Loftus crowd, simply stopped singing and turned over the microphone to the crowd.
This could have been a disaster, but instead it was a master move as the fans could be heard belting the national anthem at the top of their voices, singing proudly as the inspiring moment reached a crescendo to finish.
Added to the boisterous crowd, KB performed the national anthem with 12-year-old Lisa Nkandla, who performed the national anthem in sign language for deaf South Africans watching at home.
That rendition of the National Anthem was lekker, hey@IOLsport @TheStar_news #SAvIRE pic.twitter.com/KiZNmdOaHO
— Morgan Bolton (@FreemanZAR) July 6, 2024
History
The Springboks would go on to beat Ireland for the first time in a Test match since 2016, to cap off a perfect day - which got off to an incredible start thanks to Motsilanyane, Nkandla and the over 50,000 fans.
However, It’s not always the case that the Springboks receive a good rendition of the SA anthem.
The names of Ard Matthews and Ras Dumisani are well-known in South Africa in performances of the SA anthem that the singers would prefer to forget.
Dumisani’s attempt at inspiring the Springboks came in their Test match against hosts France in Toulouse in November 2009.
The Guardian described Dumisani’s rendition as: “Reggae singer Ras Dumisani mauled, mutilated and murdered the national anthem in a hilariously off-key rendition before South Africa played France in a rugby international last Friday.”
In August 2011, it was the turn of Matthews to make a mess of the anthem.
Fortunately for Matthews, his sub-par performance was not on a rugby field but in the SuperSport studio after the Springbok squad had been announced for that year’s Rugby World Cup.
Still, Matthews didn’t seem to know the words at all, and quickly gained notoriety for his embarrassing moment.