Dreadlock king’s styling passion takes him to top
WHEN Siya Cembi’s dream of becoming a soapie star in Johannesburg fizzled out, he turned to the skill he knew best – dreadlocking .
Now, not only is Cembi running several successful dreadlock salons in the Eastern Cape, he is also training young people in the art, several of whom have opened their own businesses specialising in turning African hair into ropes of delightful dreads. From GraaffReinet to Queenstown, Cembi’s former apprentices are making a living beautifying their clients.
Cembi himself works from God’s Blessings Salon at the lower end of Buffalo Street, from which he runs his own space to the sound of gospel music and the compliments of a steady stream of clients. He shares his space with business partner Irvine Matute, 29, who he trained and who has since opened his own dreadlocking operations in Queenstown and Butterworth.
Business is booming not only for Cembi and Matute , but also the stylists they have trained, thanks to the rapid return to popularity of natural African hair.
The Hollywood-driven trend of relaxing hair and wearing wigs and weaves is declining as quickly as the dreadlock-based vogue grows.
“A lot of women are moving back to natural looks because dreadlock styles last longer and need less upkeep,” says Cembi as he gels and twists Akhona Mdutyulwa’s long dreadlocks during one of her monthly maintenance visits.
Regular customer Noli Kaptein, 40, who sports an elegant hairdo in which her shoulder-length dreadlocks are coiled close to her head, says she cottoned on to dreadlocks three years ago because continuously relaxing it had caused her hair to fall out.
“I’m happy to be proud of my African hair and not to be fake. Siya is so creative and does the best styles.”
“People are going back to their roots and they like being natural,” agrees Cembi, who started helping his younger sisters braid their hair when he was just nine years old while growing up in Mount Frere.
At first some villagers sniggered at the boy who loved to fashion his mother’s hair into cornrows, saying he was indulging in “girls’ work”, but by the time he was in