It’s not rare for Hollywood’s struggling artists to get day jobs to pay their bills while paying their dues. Although Thembi Seete’s never had to wait tables or ask customers if they’d like chips with their burger, she’s had to grow up and work in the real world – far from adoring fans and television interviews. For the past five years Thembi has been swapping her sexy on-stage outfits with more conservative (but equally sexy) corporate attire as she reports to the fuel giant company Engen. Thembi’s responsible for emceeing at Engen launches and most importantly overseeing the training and development of new petrol attendants. It’s a job the diminutive star takes seriously. There’s lots of preparation and travelling involved, but as the Jika Majika presenter reveals, she’s never been scared of an honest day’s work. Thembi’s chosen to meet BONA at Jo’burg’s trendy Melrose Arch – the playground of Mzansi’s young, beautiful and successful people.
She’s the epitome of a Black Diamond: she’s got the right hair, make-up and clothes. More importantly she’s armed with a real gogetter attitude. Over drinks, she takes us back to the lowest point of her life almost 10 years ago when Boom Shaka split and she had to find her own career path. “I love beautiful things and when Boom Shaka was no more it didn’t take long for me to realise I couldn’t afford the life I wanted on an entertainer’s income.” The petite and sexy star found herself hustling in Hillbrow after years of enjoying the benefits of being an A-list celebrity. “I had to beg club promoters in Hillbrow to book me just so I could pay the month’s rent and be able to eat,” the small-voiced star reveals. The realisation that she couldn’t rely on the kindness of a club owner called Benson for the rest of her life made Thembi determined to make it back into the music industry. Her door to the corporate world opened when she was invited to emcee the opening of an Engen garage and Food Stop in Swaziland. “The function was near a small town and the owners were worried that people wouldn’t come. I took it upon myself to go knocking from door to door to encourage people to leave their homes. Eventually 150 people were squashed into that small shop.” As destiny would have it the CEO of Engen was in attendance and was impressed with Thembi’s proactive approach to the job. Since then the singer and actress dedicates five months of her year to travelling the country motivating Engen’s staff members. “The people at Engen are like family to me now,” admits Thembi. Having a stable income from her work with Engen has done wonders for her career, which was headed for the grave. She was able to fund her latest album Music Is My Life. “When a record label sinks R200 000 into your album there’s a lot of pressure. They want to see the results of their investment quickly.
I took my time and saved money to record one song here and another two there and look at the difference,” she points out. And what a difference it has made.The single Free made the industry take notice – she got a SAMA nod for the first time as a solo artist – and got her street credibility; something she’s lacked because of her forgettable rap album Lollipop. Beyond resurrecting her music career, her day job has allowed Thembi to buy her mother a house, buy and rent out several properties and travel to countries like Thailand for a holiday. Admittedly it’s hard to believe the transformation from a long braided, short-wearing music star to a composed career woman. Thembi is not at all offended at the suggestion that her success doesn’t fit the sexfuelled image people have of her. “Believe me I’m aware that I needed to prove myself and gain people’s respect. I knew I didn’t really have that respect before,” she admits. This month marks the launch of her company Fablane Entertainment’s biggest project. In collaboration with another group of Black businesswomen, the company will roll out a youth development programme in the Moqhaka municipality in the Free State province. “I had been to the area with Jika Majika and noticed how bored the young people were.
After a long process of writing proposals, doing presentations and just planting the seed, someone believed in us,” says a beaming Thembi. The 16 16 Crown City Festival will bring the usually dull town to life. For the World Cup Thembi and her partners will launch a public viewing areas project. “Kroonstad [Moqhaka] won’t be in the middle of the FIFA World Cup action like other cities and towns. We’ll be bringing World Cup fever to them with big screens, DJs and performers.” Thembi’s 15 years in the music world hasn’t always been an enjoyable ride but life is looking up again...in a big way. As her much talked about hit song Free suggests she no longer has to answer to people controlling how she sings, dresses or acts: “You, you said that I wouldn’t be all that I could be, now look at me. I’m, I’m flying like a bird, dancing in the air, I am free.” “I’m living my song,” says a glowing Thembi. [e] |
