Vuvuzela controversy solved? A quieter vuvuzela
Vuvuzela factory owner Neil van Schalkwyk says he sells vuvuzelas that are quieter than the deafening horns stirring up controversy at the World Cup. Even Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are complaining about the sound.
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Employs locals, breaks on impact
As well as being quieter, van Schalkwyk’s vuvuzela is easy to pack and breaks on impact, because it is made of three parts that snap together. This has pleased local police, as vuvuzela's are sometimes used as weapons.
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Plus, van Schalkwyk’s factory employs locals. Unlike many others on sale which are imported mainly from China, his vuvuzela is made at a factory in Cape Town.
On Sunday, the tournament’s South African organizing committee chairman, Danny Jordaan, said officials might ban vuvuzelas if they were used to drown out national anthems or thrown on the pitch. FIFA later said vuvuzelas are here to stay. “Vuvuzelas will not be banned from the stadia,” spokesman Stan Schaffner told reporters.
He was supported by local organizing committee chairman Rich Mkhondo. “They characterize the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and they will remain so, just as much as other World Cups like the one in Mexico had their own way of celebrating the beautiful game. The vuvuzelas are here to stay and they will never be banned.”
Their exact origins and ownership are disputed but most South Africans accept that it was probably developed from the horn of a Kudu (kind of antelope), which was used to call African tribesmen to gatherings. It was adopted at matches in the 1970s but did not become mainstream until the mid 1990s when they appeared in the colors of local teams such as Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
Mr. van Schalkwyk, a Manchester United fan, said the team-colored horns sell for between R40 ($5) and R60 ($8). “One day I’d like to see my vuvuzelas blown at Premiership games and, who knows, at the Stretford End at Old Trafford,” he says.
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