No Regulations For Hair Salons

Keabetswe Newel
Laone Nkwane
Thusang Baraedi
Correspondents | Monday August 23, 2010 00:00

A hairdresser at The Loom Hair Salon, Florence Mlusadi, was the first to express her bitterness saying, they are barely surviving due to the illegal hairdressers, most of whom are Zimbabweans.

She is only able to make a pittance at the end of the day as competition from the Zimbabweans is throttling her business.Mlusadi said that although they face competition from other hair salons, it is evident that the massive competition comes from the Zimbabweans.

'These Zimbabweans are the ones that attract all our customers with cheap prices. Since money is hard to find many people will always go for cheaper services,' said Mlusadi.

According to Mlusadi, salons spend a lot of money buying quality products with the aim of providing quality services. 'We always put the health of our customers first. When a customer comes in the first thing we do is check any damage to the customers' hair and make sure that before doing what the customer wants we address that problem first,

'But the Zimbabweans who do hairdressing in the streets do not do those things,' she said.

A customer at The Loom, Mogi Kabelo, said that she preferred to be served in a hair salon because her hair never gets damaged.

She said she does not patronise the Zimbabwean illegal hairdressers.

In an interview with a supervisor at the Mogasi Hair Salon, Walter Keitumetse,  took The Monitor around the empty hair salon lamenting that there was not a single customer on the day because they went for the lower prices on the street.

Keitumetse said that despite the fact that the Zimbabweans do not practice any health measures, customers still prefer them because they pay as low as P20 for a service that salons charge around P80.

He said their tools of the trade like scissors and combs are sterilised, and they buy quality hair conditioners to treat customer. They also use chemicals like Dettol.

'We also look at the fact that some of our customers' work in sunny or windy conditions and we treat them according to their specific demands,' said Keitumetse

The only customer The Monitor found at Mogasi Hair Salon, Bernadette Shunje, said she preferred hair salons to Zimbabwean hairstylists for various reasons. She stated good quality service that includes washing the hair, moisturising and relaxing as well as advice on what to do with your hair, unlike the Zimbabweans, whom she revealed did not have permission fiddle with people's hairs.

'It is only shortage of money that compels me to approach these street hairdressers since they are very cheap, they also offer credit for you to pay them when you have money,' added Shunje.

Lebogang Phuthego, a hairstylist at Gem Hair Saloon, said that services offered at the salon are satisfactory. She said prices in a salon are negotiable and also worth it since they are treated inside the salon with comfortable furniture unlike the Zimbabweans who use open space.

On the other hand the illegal Zimbabwean hairdressers swaggered as if without a care and were as prevalent as a taxi drivers. One of the Zimbabweans said that they are engaged in the illegal hairdressing business because they cannot work in salons as they are required to have work experience by salon owners.

But the Zimbabwean woman said that they are doing this for survival. She said they normally make a better income, the least being a P100 a day or a P1,000 per week during month end. 

'We never do any hair washing or moisturising and they wash their hair at their own places,' said the Zimbabwean woman. She added that since it is illegal to do what they do they often get into trouble with the police and sometimes end up paying fines of not more that P300.

The public relations officer at Francistown City Council, Priscilla Gulubane-Simula said that there is nothing they can do about this issue since they have never had any complaints from the hair salon businesses.

She also mentioned that the illegal hairstylists wait at the bus rank for customers who take them to their houses for hairdressing.

'There is nothing we can do about the situation,' she said.