Church lays claim to vuvuzela

2004-06-01 12:47

Durban - The Shembe church in Inanda, Durban, is laying claim to the vuvuzela horn, which has become the ubiquitous symbol of South African soccer.

Nazareth Baptist Church - commonly known as Shembe - spokesperson Enock Mthembu said on Tuesday that the horn was first used by Prophet Isaiah Shembe in 1910 and since then church members had been using it when they danced during worshipping.

The horn, called the imbomu, was originally made from cowhide but was now created out of corrugated iron, he said. It was used by members at the Shembe church's Ekuthakameni headquarters in Inanda, where the prophet was buried.

Supporters of the former AmaZulu football club, now the Zulu Royals, started using the horn at matches in about 1992, said Mthembu.

"The people were using it for entertainment purposes at soccer matches. The supporters didn't know the true significance of the horn. Then we never said anything but now that it is being commercialised, we are concerned. We don't want to cause unnecessary trouble, but feel we have a right to a share in the whole thing," he said.

Mthembu said he believed the name "vuvuzela" was associated with popular kwaito maestro Arthur "Vuvuzela" Mafokate.

In earlier reports beer company SABMiller said the vuvuzela would be trademarked to prevent its inventor Neil van Schalkwyk from being ripped off.

SABMiller spokesperson Michael Farr said then that, given the overwhelming popularity of the vuvuzela, the beer company was keen that everybody should know the product was created by a South African, and that his labour be respected.

"To that end, we are assisting Neil with his legal costs in order to protect his product, so that he avoids the risk of anyone capitalising on his business unfairly," said Farr.

Van Schalkwyk on Tuesday said that they were not concerned at this stage when the horn was first introduced to the country but all they wanted to do was protect the name "vuvuzela" for all South Africans.

"We are busy formulating a model so that the name can be shared by the rest of South Africa," he said.

He added that they wanted to prevent the name from being used by outsiders who would come in and cash in on "our" name.

"We want to give back to the whole of the country, not specific people," he said.

Van Schalkwyk's business, Masincedane Sport, was "kickstarted" by a project called SAB KickStart, run by the South African Breweries.

The day Fifa president Sepp Blatter opened the envelope declaring South Africa as the host for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, the horn could be heard in stadiums around the country and in Zurich, Switzerland.

- SAPA