City of Masvingo (Hairdresser's, Beautician's and Barber's Shop) By-laws, 2025

No person may carry on the business of a hairdresser, beautician or barber in the City of Masvingo except in premises licensed by the council. Applications go to the council with the prescribed fee and are considered against the by-laws' premises and hygiene standards.

Licences run for up to a year. The council may refuse or cancel a licence where the holder or an employee breaches the by-laws or is convicted under them, must give written reasons, and a person aggrieved may seek review. Operators are graded into Class A (a qualified hairdresser), Class B (a hairdresser or barber without that qualification) and Class C (beauty treatment, braiding and extensions only), and chemical use is restricted by class.

Fees are set in US dollars and payable in local currency at the prevailing interbank rate. The application fee is nil for all three trades. The annual licence fee is US$50 for a barber and US$50 for a beautician, US$240 for a Class A hairdresser and US$220 for Class B.

Penalties are set at a flat US$20 for almost every offence, including operating without a licence, failing to display it, using part of the premises as a dwelling, failing to keep the shop in good repair, not wearing a clean light overall, not sweeping up fallen hair, not washing hands between customers, not sterilising instruments, attending to a person with an apparent infectious skin or hair condition, and refusing a medical examination required by the health officer. Transferring a licence to another person without approval costs US$50 and to another premises US$20.

The fee structure differs sharply from the Murewa by-laws gazetted in the same week: Masvingo charges nothing to apply but far more for a hairdressing licence, and its penalties are flat where Murewa's rise to US$800 for the infectious-disease offences.