By Palesa Matlala
- Salon manager Kufi Mubarake, 34, lost three dreadlock stylists and two nail technicians and now closes his salon at 3pm daily for safety.
- Mubarake charges R250 per dreadlock client and says he cannot afford to replace his Ghanaian staff with South Africans who want higher wages.
Kufi Mubarake built his salon up to ten staff members. In the past few weeks, five of them have gone home to Ghana — and last weekend, he turned away 17 dreadlock clients because there was nobody left to do the work.
At R250 a client, that is R4,250 he did not make in two days. July rent is coming and he does not know how he is going to cover it.
“As a manager of this salon it has become difficult to run a business in South Africa,” Mubarake, 34, told Scrolla.Africa.
“I can’t hire anyone for now till things get better. And I can’t afford to hire South Africans because they want more money.”
He lost three dreadlock stylists and two nail technicians. Some were undocumented and chose to leave. He notes that he also employs Zulu and Tswana staff.
The departures are part of a larger wave. About 800 Ghanaian nationals have said they want to return home, with 300 already gone, ahead of a 30 June deadline pushed by anti-immigrant groups. Nigeria is making plans to fly roughly 400 of its nationals back. Mozambique has already bused out 545 people, with more expected. The Malawian government has said it will help its citizens who want to leave.
As tensions have grown, Mubarake took the decision to close at 3pm every day — earlier than normal — to protect his customers and staff.
“But I am losing money,” he said.
His customers are feeling it too. Lynda Tsetse, 30, arrived at her usual salon this week to find that Eric, her regular hairdresser, had left for Ghana the week before with no replacement coming.
“I prefer Ghanaians when it comes to hair. They have magical hands that support hair growth and volume. They understand black hair,” she said.
She is still looking for someone new, but finding one means travelling further and spending more on transport.
Civic organisations including March and March and Ngobunsizwe Foundation have announced plans for a mass demonstration on immigration, calling for undocumented foreigners to leave. Organisers have warned that people with other agendas should not attach themselves to the protest.
Pictured above: A client doing their hair at a hair salon in Johannesburg.
Image source: Supplied
