Soccer 2010 South Africa... Vuvuzela: football's beautiful noise

Johannesburg - Former South African president Nelson Mandela ordered hundreds to be taken to Zurich to support South Africa's 2010 Football World Cup bid.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel blew one. So did newly elected provincial premier Ebrahim Rasool.

And when Fifa president Sepp Blatter pulled the country's name from the envelope last weekend, the sound of tens of thousands of "vuvuzelas", the elongated, trumpet-like noisemaker of choice for millions of soccer fans could be heard across the country.
Made from plastic and emitting a braying sound similar to that of an elephant, the vuvuzela over the last week has etched itself as a symbol of South African football.
It has become so popular since its introduction at stadiums in the late 1990s, that a major South African brewer took steps to register the design as a trademark to protect its inventor, Neil van Schalkwyk.


"The vuvuzela has really become a symbol of South African soccer," said Putco Mafani, communications manager for the hugely popular Kaizer Chiefs football club.
"It's loud, proud and shows the passion that South African football fans have for the game," Mafani, who is widely credited for popularising the instrument, told AFP. Nobody is quite sure where the name "vuvuzela" comes from.

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