Sandton loses its mind as pre-victorious Bafana take a ride

In any other country it would have been just a gathering of fans to wish their team well, albeit a very large gathering. In Europe they may have sung a mournful tune, and in the Americas they would have waved flags. In South Africa, they did permanent damage to the hearing of passengers in jet airliners passing 20 000 feet overhead.

By Phillip de Wet

9 Jun 2010

We think the vuvuzela is awesome, and we continue to salute FIFA for not attempting to ban our favourite cultural weapon from stadia. But this is no longer a recommendation, it is a dire warning: if you are going to a game, take earplugs. [Or head off to your favourite gun shop and get those earmuffs used for shooting; your ears will be warm, too - managing ed]

The crowd that gathered in Sandton on Wednesday, 9 June 2010, to wish Bafana well, and start the celebrations for the inevitable victory over Mexico in the opening match, took the roof off. And it made no difference that they were outdoors. As the density of vuvuzelas crept closer to critical levels (beyond which the surrounding atmosphere would catch fire from the continuous agitation, resulting the end of all life on earth) the noise drowned out police sirens, public address systems and the shouted attempts at communication from people mere centimetres apart.

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About Phillip de Wet

Phillip de Wet is associate editor at the Mail & Guardian. He used to be deputy editor of Daily Maverick (www.dailymaverick.co.za), its live-tweeting specialist (@phillipdewet, @dailymaverick) and the editor of First Thing, the morning email from Daily Maverick. He writes primarily on politics, business and technology, and also deals with persistent trolls.