AfricaIs aCountry

Hold On To Your Hat

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

Hold On To Your Hat

By
Sean Jacobs

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL3tRBZv7QA&w=500&h=307&rel=0]

South African football fans (well, boosted by corporates) have brought the world the plastic vuvuzelas. There’s one other invention of local football that might catch on: Makarapas, the elaborately decorated construction hard hats that now come in national colors.

There’s an interesting history about the origins of makarapas and the man who invented it, Alfred Baloyi.

Above, Heineken, in an ad for the Dutch portion of its global market, sends up the hat’s origins.  Apart from the twist at the end, the narrative is close to the real thing, as you will discover in this story–reported in more journalistic fashion; don’t worry about the cheesy music–by Yahoo Sports:

[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/12711845 w=500&h=281]

And as a bonus, also a link to a high energy version of the Makarapa story by one of the young reporters of the Sony-sponsored FevaCasters:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJYJyO-zbAs&w=500&h=307&rel=0]

— Sean Jacobs

Further Reading

À qui s’adresse la CAN ?

Entre le coût du transport aérien, les régimes de visas, la culture télévisuelle et l’exclusion de classe, le problème de l’affluence à la CAN est structurel — et non le signe d’un manque de passion des supporters.

Lions in the rain

The 2025 AFCON final between Senegal and Morocco was a dramatic spectacle that tested the limits of the match and the crowd, until a defining moment held everything together.