A Cape Town Barber Is Converting a Mercedes Benz Van into a Mobile Hairdresser to Give Free Haircuts

• Warren Theunis is a Cape Town-based barber and entrepreneur whose heart is in the right place and has headed a project since 2018 that gives pensioners in Cape Town free haircuts
• The project centred around showing appreciation for pensioners in the community and it morphed into the 'Groom for change' project which saw Theunis travel across the Western Cape during a 16 Days for Youth program in a sponsored van
• Theunis knew he wanted to take the 'Groom for change' mobile but needed to buy his own van and convert it into a mobile barber

Warren Theunis is on a mission to convert a Mercedes-Benz van into a mobile barber. There's only one snag, he doesn't have a bottomless wallet.

The Cape Town barber's heart of gold comes across in his love for supporting the seniors in the city. Theunis has provided free haircuts to pensioners once a month in Cape Town since 2018 as an act of kindness.

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Three years ago Theunis was part of a '16 Days for Youth' project where he provided haircuts to the younger generation from a sponsored mobile barber. Subsequent to the 16 days project Theunis was bitten by the mobile barber bug and set about trying to buy his own van.

He sold his motorbike and raised just under R20 000 in a BackaBuddy fund to purchase a 22-seater Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.

Theunis says:

"I saw this van advertised for sale for more money than I could afford, and I told them my story and the 'Groom for Change' project and they sold it to me at a price that I could afford and that was just amazing."

Once Theunis had secured the van he needed someone to strip the interior and convert it into a mobile barber. The owner of AutoWizz got in touch with Theunis after he put out a call to action on social media and the van is currently being worked on free of charge.

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Theunis says:

"There's always going to be a need for diesel and maintenance on the bus, but I'm hopeful and I believe it will happen and the bus will be completed by the end of May and I'll embark on the 16 Days for Youth project once again just as I did in 2019."

The barber's journey has come full circle and this definitely isn't the end of it. To donate to Theunis' BackaBuddy campaign, click here.

R580 million investment by Isuzu is doing wonders for black businesses in Gqeberha

Isuzu Motors South Africa has invested R580 million to support component localisation. This investment includes the provision of the supplier tooling needed to manufacture specific components in preparation for the recently launched all-new seventh-generation D-Max bakkie, Briefly News reports.

This has been a four-year journey for the Japanese company and one they have travelled together with their local suppliers, as they embarked on a new sourcing strategy at the beginning of 2018. The process included classifying local suppliers that had the technical capability to manufacture a list of the brand's components required for the new bakkie.

This process represents a significant opportunity to transform the automotive sector and usher in the entry of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) participants into its supply chain. The vehicle maker has maintained an automotive industry-leading B-BBEE Level One for a second consecutive year.

Source: Briefly News