CAPE TOWN - A dream turned into a nightmare overnight for the hard working Barber Brothers on Delft Main Road, after they woke up to a call that their barbershop had been the target of a burglary.
Their machines, mirrors, radio and sound systems, amounting to thousands of rands, had been stolen.
The Abrahams brothers, Nizaam, 35, Nashief, 28, and Rajab, 26, who have lost both their parents, said they had built their small business from cutting hair under a gazebo to renting a fully kitted-out structure in December.
“Tuesday morning around 8am, the lady where we are renting our plot messaged us to say that our barber had been broken into. December was our first month we opened. We have been cutting for quite a few years, but mid last year we started our business cutting hair in a gazebo to raise the funds to build a place,” said Rajab.
“The saddest part is, all of us grew up in this area, a lot of people have seen us struggling. They know our vision, they saw us struggling to get to this point and we do our best to help our community. It breaks my heart, I mean we are also trying,” he said.
He said they decided not to lodge a complaint with police as they felt nothing would come of it.
Taking the Cape Times back to the beginning of their journey, he said cutting hair began as a means to survive.
“We didn't grow up in a family of money, we had our daily struggles and started cutting hair to buy stuff for the evening to eat. We started as barbers in 2006. After my eldest brother started he trained us and then we worked for different salons in Cape Town, until we decided to start The Barber Brothers last year.”
“The way I see barbering is that I am an engineer. Someone will come in with a picture and it is my job to turn their vision into reality or something even better than that photo. It is the best feeling for me when I see the smile on the person’s face when I’m done cutting their hair. I’ve done many jobs before but cutting hair is the only thing I have a passion for.”
Despite the setback because of the robbery, the brothers have big dreams.
“Our vision is very big, we want to go into schools and teach young people about hair and barbering. From there we want to open barber shops across malls and employ young people that come through our educational programmes. We also want to manufacture barbering equipment like chairs at a more affordable price because it is costly,” said Rajab.
To assist The Barber Brothers in rebuilding their business and expanding their vision, they can be contacted on 071 042 0977.
Cape Times