For every citizen, nothing means more to them than the sound of their national anthem – more so for athletes.
But Banyana Banyana were left bemused ahead of their 2022 TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal fixture against Tunisia in Rabat when the organisers played only the last part of the South Africa National Anthem, Nkosi Sikelela’iAfrica on Thursday, 14 July 2022.
What made matters worse is that the match was an all-important 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier and the incorrect playing of the anthem could have so easy derailed some of the players.
Despite showing their disapproval with the shake of heads and disbelief, Desiree Ellis’ charges rose above the mishap and defeated Tunisia 1-0 thanks to a Jermaine Seoposenwe strike in the first half – securing both the World Cup sport in Australia and New Zealand as well as qualifying for the semi-final of the WAFCON.
They will face Zambia in the last four for a place in the final.
In the interim, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has issued a statement where they apologised to South Africa after the error with the national anthem.
For the CAF statement click link below
Letter-of-Apology-South-AfricaDownload
By Matlhomola Morake
