South African townships are the sites of a thriving informal economy. On some blocks, you’ll find multiple salons and barbershops, each with its own unique fingerprint of an entrepreneurial owner — few if any big name brands here. Many serve as gathering places for the community. Here’s a look at the barber shop and hair salon industry in South African townships.
Many salons and barbershops are popping up in mobile containers–the kind you see on large shipping vessels. Some salon owners have cut windows in the walls to let in light and simply applied tape to hold down the glass panes. They’ll also cut doors in the walls and attach hinges.
Christine, a hair stylist in Khayelitsha, said she earns enough to feed and educate her three children–one of whom attends university. She said she earns enough not to stress about money on a block where there are six other salons.
Along with liquor stores, child care businesses, street vendors, healers and micro-manufacturers, salons make up 75 percent of all of the micro enterprises found in South African townships. This informal economy also makes up around 5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product — some say more.
Here’s one reason townships salons and barber shops are doing well: the prices are relatively low. One barbershop in Soshanguve, Gauteng, charges barely $1 for a cut and half that for a trim. The shop names its different styles after famous American artists like R. Kelly. There is even a kids’ R. Kelly cut.
Not many of the township salons or barbershops are on Facebook, but those that are have posted pictures. Tembisa Supreme Touch hair salon in the township of Tembisa, Johannesburg, depicts almost all short hairstyles on women. A look at Legends Barbershop in Eldorado Park in Johannesburg shows a lot of buzz cuts with fades and lines.
These salons and barbershops offer more than just a place to freshen one’s look. They’re a gathering place for the community. The shops are a place where locals can share the latest gossip, soccer game recaps and such. Photographer and author Simon Weller made them the subject of a book, “South African Township Barbershops & Salons.”
Images of Tupac Shakur, R. Kelly, P. Diddy, Will Smith and Beyonce are often found painted on the walls of South African barber shops, or in magazine clippings hung up. Township residents look at America as a place of success stories for black people. Their haircuts feel in a way like a step in that direction, Weller said.