‘I want to fill stadiums, not cars’: Aspirations of the singing petrol attendant

A microphone should replace a petrol pump in Jeremiah Sibiya’s hand and the forecourt should make way for a stage. One day soon it probably will.

Sibiya has become known as the singing petrol attendant and until his big break arrives, he plans on injecting a bit of sunshine into customer’s lives when they fill up at the service station where he works in Parkdene, Ekurhuleni.

He is unassuming, somewhat shy, but whenever he talks about music or singing, the glint in his eye is obvious.

There is true passion here and the warmth of his personality draws people into conversation.

He has the demeanour of a person who has climbed the starting rungs of life’s ladder of achievement and is ready for the rodeo and has the substance and stamina to see it through to the top.

But everyone has got to start somewhere and for Sibiya, it’s the service station that he’s turned into his first stage.

Music has been in his blood since childhood but he only started taking music seriously about eight years ago when he joined a church choir.

“Before then it wasn’t really a consideration but with friends and family telling me I should be entering competitions like Idols, I slowly started pursuing it.”

He said it was tough though and that the barrier to entry in the music industry could be quite a challenge.

Yet his sights are firmly set on achieving his goals and he has resolved to make it big one day. Sibiya said: “When my current employer heard about my singing, he called me into the office and joked that I must remember him when I am rich and famous.”

He said that the Shell service station franchisee was also the only person to offer him an opportunity to work after almost two years of searching in vain.

He said: “Getting work is incredibly difficult these days and few opportunities exist beyond the bush telegraph, where referrals of job opportunities happen via the grapevine.

“I cannot remember the number of times I responded to advertisements, only to never hear from prospective employers.”

That is how his current job came about. He heard about it from a friend of a friend and worked at getting forecourt became his stage.

As Sibiya shared a few songs with The Citizen, he closed his eyes and his gestures, body language and expression shifted into those of a true superstar as he belted out tunes loud and proud. It’s infectious, too, and his colleagues joined in the chorus of a familiar R&B tune.

After that, he launched into a gospel tune and slowly onlookers started gathering close to listen to him.

Customers love his singing.

He said: “Sometimes when I put in petrol for a customer I just start singing. It’s something you cannot hold in. When you love it and it’s part of you, you want to let it shine.”

He added that many customers had encouraged him to pursue a career in music. Colleagues on the forecourt say the same, too.

“I dream about the day I step up and move into the music industry. Music is my life and it’s what I want to do,” said Sibiya.

For now, he dreams of filling up Durban’s International Conference Centre, instead of cars. And he has the voice to take him there.