The sculptured soccer hard hats that we at MAKOYA MAKARABA created were the result of a community project we developed in Cape Town South Africa. Each one was an unique top quality piece of sculptured artwork made from a builder’s hard hat. Each one represented the hands-on passion of South African soccer culture.

We were a small company that trained and helped uplift talented unemployed people from the Township communities on the Cape Peninsula, in the art of designing and painting these fantastic fan helmets to a high World class standard. The difficult process of manually cutting and trimming, then painting the makarabas to the highest standard, is a skill we had perfected and wanted to teach and uphold. Our core team was small, compact, keen and hard working and loved their jobs and were very proud of the makarabas that they produced that were appreciated by local and international fans and companies worldwide.

As the demand grew for our fabulous helmets so did the need to train more cutters and painters. Our aim was to create permanent and meaningful self-employment for individuals from previously disadvantaged backgrounds. We did what we could with NO investment partner/s who could have helped expand our management and production. In spite of this we did our best to cater for the demand we experienced during the FIFA 2010 World Cup.

The only way forward for this makaraba project after the World Cup, is to be able to make makarabas for the soccer, rugby and cricket clubs in South Africa. Unfortunately this opportunity has been denied by the EXCLUSIVE licence in the category of headgear by Signet Licensing & Marketing being issued to ONE hat manufacturer. THIS has sadly forced us to face closing the project. We at Makoya Makaraba would like to thank all of you who have supported and embraced our MAKOYA makaraba helmets. Who wear them passionately and showcase them proudly. For this we are forever grateful.