[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