By Stuart Alderson-Smith

Yet again the vuvuzela, the emotive plastic trumpet much loved by local soccer fans (and Shine 2010 readers), but not always as much by those not used to its din, is in the news.

For once however it’s not about whether it should be promoted or banned for the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup, or whether or not the noise distracts foreign teams, but rather that a local church claims to have invented it, and is threatening to take legal action against companies claiming that they in turn have trademark rights.

Vuvuzela used for worship

According to the Ekuphakameni faction of the church, the Nazareth Baptist Church has been using the vuvuzela, which it called izimbomu, since the church was founded by Prophet Isaiah Shembe in 1910. They added that the instrument was used for praise and worship.

 According to Ekuphakameni spokesperson Edward Ximba, “the Shembe church has been exploited for years by people who think they know better. This is particularly because they think we are uneducated.”

Trademark-holders respond

Neil van Schalkwyk, spokesman for Masincedane Sports who are the holders of the trademark for the vuvuzela, said the Shembe church had approached the company six years ago about who had come up with the concept for the instrument.

 "We started manufacturing vuvuzelas in 2001, and at that time we were not even aware of the Shembe church," he said.

Regarding the contact, van Schalkwyk states that "we met with the Shembe representatives in 2004, who said they wanted compensation, and forwarded them a proposal that we would sell the vuvuzelas to them at wholesale price. They could then sell them to their members and make a good profit, as they claimed to have about four million members."

Another company manufacturing vuvuzelas said that the instrument belonged to soccer supporters and no one could claim rights to it, including the Shembe church.

This sentiment seems to be echoed by the public, as evidenced by some of the comments where the original article appeared. Three in particular sum up the feeling:

Readers reply

A reader called Karma wrote: “I have two ancient vuvuzela at home. They come from Tibet where horns have been used for praise for thousands of years. I don't see the Dalai Lama trying to muscle in on the action. Shame on Shembe!”

Another reader, this time using the moniker of Anonymous, wrote: “As kids we used to make trumpets from dried kelp found on the beaches - just like a vuvuzela only smellier. And that was almost 30 years ago. The only new thing about the vuvuzela is that it is made of plastic and not natural materials. Trademarking the most basic trumpet is a bit sad.”

Finally, Nkokhi elobarated further: “Shembe is missing an important point here: Native Africans and other nations have been blowing horns for donkey years. It’s an act of being misinformed to patent such [an] instrument; they made their zinc sheet vuvuzela that produces a sound similar to kudu horn. [Their] version was just an extended and modernised kudu horn; the current vuvuzela slightly differs in sound and pitch from Shembe’s version because of its length and width. The same applies to Shembe, because [of] its length and width, it slightly differs from horn.”

Source: IOL
Image: Members of the Shembe faith play musical instruments as they walk toward the Nhlangakazi Mountain during their annual pilgrimage north of Durban, January 5, 2009. Source: daylife