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Africa Live: Shock as Malian-French singer faces 'racist' attacks - BBC News Africa Live: Shock as Malian-French singer faces 'racist' attacks - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
The organising committee of the Paris Olympics said it was shocked by "racist" attacks made by far-right French groups against Malian-French singer Aya Nakamura. Conservationists are mourning the death of a Zimbabwean tour guide who was trampled to death by a charging elephant at South Africa's Gondwana Private Game Reserve.
The attacks were triggered by reports that Nakamura, 28, would perform a song by the legendary 20th century French singer Édith Piaf at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in July. David Kandela, 36, was leading a group of tourists on Sunday evening when the tragedy happened, the reserve said in a statement quoted by local media.
On Sunday, the far-right group Les Natifs protested in Paris with a banner saying: "There's no way Aya, this is Paris, not the Bamako market", referring to the capital of Mali, where Nakamura was born. It added that the incident occurred as one of Gondwana’s herds of elephants was passing through Gondwana’s tented Eco Camp.
She migrated to France with her family as a child and received French citizenship in 2021. "The herd had nearly passed through the camp when David encountered the last remaining elephant just before the tragic event occurred," the statement added.
The music star was also booed by supporters of the far-right Reconquest party during a rally held on Sunday. Fellow tour guides and tour operators have described Mr Kandela as an expert guide who had a deep passion for his work.
“We have been very shocked by the racist attacks against Aya Nakamura in recent days. [We offer our] total support to the most listened-to French artist in the world,” the Paris Olympics organising committee said on Monday. Such incidents are rare, but elephants are said to be easily disturbed by high number of tourists especially in areas that are not designated for safari tourists.
Several fans and French leaders, including French MP Antoine Leaument and Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, have supported Nakamura. Elephants are a major tourist attraction in southern Africa.
Les Natifs has continued to double down, saying Nakamura does not represent French culture and her performance would signal the "Africanization" of French culture.
Nakamura is one of the biggest musicians in France, and some reports name her as the most listened-to French-singing musician in the world.
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