Legend has it that sometime in the late seventies or early eighties Kaizer Chiefs fans took to wearing hardhats to soccer games to protect themselves from bottles or other objects thrown during the game. Later they started decorating the hardhats to display their allegiances – giving birth to makaraba culture.

Michael Souter, a Cape Town-based graphic designer and artist who designs and produces the hats, says that he first saw a makaraba at a game between Orlando Pirates and Ajax Cape Town.

‘The first time I saw a makaraba I thought they were fantastic. I was looking for something other than painting and realised that makarabas are an art form, a form of sculpture,” he says.

Souter adds that he was also drawn to the idea of producing makarabas commercially because of the potential to create jobs. He currently employs ten people to help him make the hats, which take up to six hours to make and sell for between R500 and R700 on his website.

Souter has made so many makarabas that he has difficulty naming a favourite, although one that he made for the homeless World Cup stands out. At the moment he is preoccupied with making makarabas for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which will be made for all the teams competing in the tournament.

Makarabas can be custom made according to the wearer’s design. Examples of Souter’s custom designs range from an ornate tribute to Madiba to a towering piece of headgear dedicated to Nigeria’s ‘Super Eagles’.

But whatever message fans choose to adorn their makaraba, Souter says that they won’t be disappointed in this quirky memento of South Africa’s soccer culture: “Each one is passionately made and individual, and will make a fantastic souvenir for travelers to South Africa during the World Cup and Confederations Cup,” he says.