Petrol attendants in South Africa typically earn around R8,200 per month, above the national minimum wage.
This is according to new data from the Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS), which noted that petrol attendants serve an important role in South Africa’s automotive ecosystem.
While motorists in many other countries pump their own fuel, attendants in South Africa fill up cars, clean windshields, check tyre pressure, and manage oil and water levels.
Roughly a third of the nation’s attendants are located in Gauteng, while the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal have the second and third highest numbers, respectively.
Together, these three provinces account for two-thirds of South Africa’s petrol station jobs.
According to the Motor Industry Bargaining Council (MIBCO) wage tables, which are in effect until August 2026, South Africa’s petrol attendants earn more than the national minimum wage.
The tables state that attendants earn a minimum of R2,060.55 per week (R8,242 per month), or R45.79 per hour.
For comparison, cashiers earn slightly less at R2,038.50 per week.
However, unlike cashiers, petrol attendants can earn tips, which can add a significant amount to a worker’s take-home pay by the end of the month.
Survey data from Glassdoor, an online salary and employment firm, shows that petrol attendants can earn around R750 per month in tips.
Tipping is most common in Johannesburg and other larger metros like the City of Cape Town.
However, tips are typically only paid by a small percentage of motorists
A TopAuto survey from January 2026 found that 40% of respondents don’t tip petrol attendants at all.
Another 55% said they tipped in cash, while the remaining 5% pays tips electronically.
Of those who do tip, most pay between R5 and R10 at a time, while others tip R20 or more.
Electronic tips for petrol attendants
One reason why so many people don’t tip petrol attendants, car guards, and similar workers is that most people no longer have a lot of cash on-hand.
Since most payments are now made with cards, motorists rarely have a spare R5 coin or R10 to give to a service provider, and most are reluctant to pay tips with larger R50, R100, or R200 notes.
Some startups are trying to get around this issue by launching digital tipping services for petrol attendants and car guards.
One example of this is Tipped, a service launched by Kimlynn Temple in late 2024.
Temple claimed that the average tip on the platform is R30, something she said was a surprising shift in consumer behaviour.
Another initiative, Tappy, began its local rollout in December 2025 with the stated goal of targeting millions of workers left behind by the new cashless world.
“With 50,000 devices already distributed, its low-cost wearable platform enables instant tips and payments without the need for cards, apps, or even a bank account,” it said.
Tappy’s service supports major card networks, as well as digital platforms like Google Pay and Apple Pay.
The earnings are instantly reflected in the worker’s Tappy wallet, which is transferable to their bank account.
The service is approved by the South African Reserve Bank, and is secure thanks to end-to-end encryption with no personal data on the devices.
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