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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
OWNING a house has been an elusive dream for millions of Zimbabweans but Mr Kelvin Ncube, a barber, has proved that it’s not only those with well paying jobs that can own houses.

Mr Ncube is building a house for his family in Cowdray Park in Bulawayo from proceeds from his trade.

The barber also known as SaRoki or Mandla, operates from his barbershop in Bulawayo’s Pelandaba suburb and he started enjoying the art of cutting hair when he was 16 years old.

When most of his peers, would spend time playing outdoors, he keenly learnt the craft of cutting hair from his neighbour and has become one of the city’s most preferred barbers.

Mr Ncube whose career now spans 24 years, said at times he is overwhelmed by the demand for his services.

He said as a teenage boy he thought being a barber would be just a passing phase as he hoped to settle for something better like driving haulage trucks later in life.

Mr Ncube said as the years passed by, he realised that working on people’s heads was his life profession and had to plan his life around it.

His list of clients includes flamboyant pastors, footballers such as England based Aston Villa’s Marvelous Nakamba and ex-Highlanders player Knox Mutizwa who now turns out for Golden Arrows in the Absa Premier League in South Africa, business people like Mr Ocean Ncube who runs Oceans supermarkets and Mr Zimbabwe Mr Bernard Ndlovu — popularly known as Ben Chest.

The soft spoken SaRoki says he would soon be moving his wife and three children to the four-roomed house that he is about to complete in Cowdray Park suburb.

He said he decided not to join the bandwagon of barbers in the city centre who operate mostly from busy hair salons and remained at his base in Pelandaba suburb where he said he is enjoying good business.

SaRoki said he is fully booked most of the days attending to an average of 20 people a day.

He said he converted one of the rooms into a barbershop and has tried to make it as comfortable as possible for his clients.

The room has a small television set which when the news crew visited was showing the latest movie and a few people waiting for their turn to have a haircut were watching the movie. The other people were reading newspapers from a pile of newspapers that was in the corner.

Mr Ncube said he converted the room into a barbershop in 2005 when Government demolished backyard structures that were deemed substandard during operation Murambatsvina. When the news crew visited SaRoki on Thursday, he was attending to one of his regular clients, Mr Tafadzwa Madihwa.

In a brief interview SaRoki said his clients ranged from ordinary citizens to prominent sport personalities and business people.

“My clients aren’t just people who live in this suburb. Some drive from the eastern suburbs for a haircut here. People like footballer Marvelous Nakamba used to come for a haircut here and he continues to do so whenever he is around.

“Other prominent clients include businessman Oceans Supermarket proprietor Mr Ncube and model Ben Chest. Even pastors come for haircut at this small barber shop. I can say my clients cut across the whole spectrum of society from children to adults and all of them get the same treatment,” said SaRoki.

The unassuming barber says he is not regretting being a professional barber as he is making enough not just to fend for his family but was even building a house for himself despite the economic challenges facing the country.

“I started this in 1992 when I was still a little boy. We had a neighbour who was a barber and I just fell in love with what he was doing. I would go and watch and learn from him until I started attending to people.

“I never thought I would spend my whole life doing haircuts but this has become my life. I wanted to be a truck driver and thought I would move to Namibia,” said SaRoki.

He said in 2015 he bought a stand in Cowdray Park and has since then been constructing a house which is nearing completion.

SaRoki says prior to Covid-19 induced lockdown, he would operate from 8AM and at times knock off at midnight.

Ben Chest told the Chronicle that he prefers getting his hair cut at SaRoki’s place because he is one of the best barbers in Bulawayo.

“I’ve passed through so many barbers but SaRoki is passionate and you can tell that he loves what he does. He gets the job done to perfection. He is probably one of the best barbers in the city,” he said.

Mr Madihwa said SaRoki takes his time and gives his best even when there is a long queue.

“He is worth the wait. You can be in a queue for a long time but when he starts doing his job, you will realise that it was worth waiting. He is different from those operating from the city centre whose main concern is the next client,” said Mr Madihwa, who was having a haircut.

As a parting shot, SaRoki encouraged budding barbers to take their jobs seriously as the craft can pay well once the clients are happy. — @nqotshili