Wigs and hair extensions are the most frequently stolen imported products at South Africa's ports, according to informal economy author GG Alcock, speaking on a recent Standard Bank Talks episode.

He attributes it to the growth of the country's informal beauty industry, which he puts at R10-billion a year. The claim is worth interrogating, but the sector behind it is real and largely unreported.

Alcock's claim traces to a 2022 Hollard article in which the insurer's then senior business development manager, Marika van Rhyn, said theft of extensions was becoming more frequent and called them the new black gold. Nobody published a ranking of stolen imports, so treat most stolen as a description of what insurers see rather than a measured position.

What is documented is the value. Hair extension imports into South Africa rose 64% between 2018 and 2022 to R1.1-billion a year. Individual wigs and pieces can retail up to R20,000. Hollard recorded a 37% rise in related marine insurance claims in a single year, and the global industry was worth about R37.5-billion in 2022, growing at roughly 11% annually.

The theft concentrates at Durban's port and Johannesburg distribution centres, and in hijackings en route. Van Rhyn also flagged a serious fire risk from storing large volumes together, which is part of why the insurance exposure is high.

Daily Investor reported Alcock's remarks and his advice that investors in beauty and personal care focus on trends over the next two to three years rather than five or ten. The Standard Bank Talks episode is where he set out the amasaloon sector and its scale. Daily Investor separately visited Nompilo Mdlalose's Centia Beauty Salon in Pretoria Central, which takes between R500 and R1,200 a day on nails, lashes and wig installations.

Whether or not wigs top any list, the reason they get stolen is the useful part. Criminals select for value density, fast resale and no traceability, and hair extensions score on all three: R20,000 in something that fits in a bag, a cash market that asks no questions, and no serial number to check. That profile is a fairly reliable indicator of where margin sits, and it is pointing at a R10-billion informal sector most formal retailers are not serving directly.

Alcock's investment note is the practical one. The salons are already operating like formal businesses, taking over R1,000 a day, and the supply chain running into them is worth R1.1-billion in imports alone. Formal online retail just crossed a tenth of all retail turnover and gets constant coverage. This gets almost none.

You might also like our piece on how Shoprite's market cap doubled chasing a similar shopper, why Pixie Smart Chat is about measuring what shoppers actually do, and what the Big Mac Index rand figure says about import pricing.

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