Cape Town - To many, a professionally done haircut is a mere regular grooming exercise, but to the hundreds of underprivileged schoolboys on the Cape Flats, it has become one of the reasons they can’t wait for schools to reopen.
As the schools reopen tomorrow and with the stress that comes with costs associated with stationery and uniforms, the Cape Coloured Congress (CCC) has offered relief for parents by giving free back-to-school haircuts for boys.
A haircut on the Cape Flats costs between R40 and R60 depending on the area, however, to many households this means an added burden on their daily expenses.
From Manenberg, Hout Bay, Lansdowne and Steenberg to Vredenburg, the initiative saw long queues of boys awaiting their turn for a free haircut.
The initiative started in Steenberg, Hout Bay and Vredenburg on Monday and is expected to spread out to other areas today.
It saw more than 60 young boys getting fresh cuts in Hout Bay alone. CCC president Fadiel Adams said by the end of today they expect to have assisted hundreds of school boys.
“We looked at the reality of South African life and we understand that many people have lost their jobs because of the pandemic.
“Some have returned to the new year not having work or any income.
“We are only trying to offer that little relief to families and cut children’s hair for free in preparations for the school reopening.
“We want these kids to have a reason to be excited about going back to school because we understand that education is the solution to our problems,” he said.
In addition to this, Adams said they also gave out school shoes and jerseys. Although these are second hand, he said they were in good condition.
“There are many hurdles that these kids face in accessing education and we want to make this one easier for them. I am one of those who was raised by a single parent and went to school with an afro and with broken school shoes. If we can save one child the indignity of this, then this is what we will always do,” he said.
Mitchells Plain community leader Nasmi Jacobs said: ”It’s not a lot but we try to help our people as nobody else will do it. These little ones deserve to look their best when schools start and growing up on the Cape Flats we all know what R60 can do towards the household, so knowing not all our little ones will be able to afford a haircut, we once again took the initiative to help them”.