Kia Durban South - Abusive in culture

I’m sharing my experience in the hope that it brings awareness to the kind of workplace culture I witnessed and endured during my time at Kia Durban South in Amanzimtoti, a dealership operating under the Motus franchise group. In all my years of working, this was by far the most emotionally taxing and hostile environment I’ve encountered.

This isn’t about isolated incidents or individual tempers — it’s about a pattern of what I can only describe as a culture of abuse. In my experience, and from what I observed daily, there was a consistent atmosphere of ************, verbal aggression, and public humiliation. I was not alone in this — every colleague I worked with seemed to experience or witness the same. It felt embedded in how the business operated.

Verbal abuse was routine. I was regularly yelled at — literally shouted at, inches from my face — and called things like “stupid,” “***********,” and “dumb.” When I raised concerns about this behaviour, it was dismissed, and I was told I was “imagining it,” even though others saw and heard the same. The phrase *“It’s not personal”* was often used to excuse this behaviour. But where is the line? When does repeated degradation and belittling stop being business and start becoming personal? Words like that wear you down — and in my case, they eventually did.

The moment I stood up for myself after being screamed at yet again — with someone shouting mere inches from my face, in full view of multiple colleagues who witnessed the entire thing — I was the one who was reported to HR. It made me wonder: were the actions of those shouting at me ever reported? Or is HR only activated when employees push back? From where I stood, it seemed like HR served to protect management, not staff.

The company contract states that all employees are entitled to be treated fairly, equally, and with respect. In my time there, this didn’t seem to be app**** across the board. In practice, I saw a one-sided standard — respect was expected from employees, but not necessarily extended to them.

There were even threats of violence — things I personally heard and found deeply unsettling. This included casual remarks about shooting staff, brushed off as jokes, but said enough times to feel threatening. I also heard statements about punching or physically harming people, which only added to the feeling of fear and tension. Whether these were jokes or not, they contributed to a culture that felt unsafe and unstable.

Another issue I experienced involved access to the communal kitchen. Employees were not allowed to eat there due to the Dealer Principal’s religious beliefs. I want to make it very clear — I have no issue with anyone’s personal religious views. Everyone should be free to express their faith in whatever way they choose. However, in a shared workplace, there should not be exclusion based on one person’s preferences. In my view, that space should be inclusive and available to all employees equally.

Workload expectations were also extreme. In my time there, when someone resigned, their duties were often redistributed among existing staff without any support or increase in pay. From what I saw, this wasn’t temporary — it was the norm. People were consistently overworked and stretched thin, and if you spoke up, you risked being labeled as difficult or ungrateful. In several instances I witnessed or experienced, if concerns were raised about the workload, the response was often something along the lines of: *“If you’re not happy, you can leave — we’ll find someone else.”* That kind of attitude made it clear that staff were seen as replaceable, not valued.

In my opinion, this was not just a poor working environment — it was a harmful one. One where psychological safety didn’t seem to exist, and where the people in charge rarely faced accountability for how they treated others. I wouldn’t describe it as abusive behaviour — it’s the only way they seemed to know how to treat people. In my experience, the environment was one of persistent verbal and emotional mistreatment. It wasn’t a bad day here and there — it was a culture.

If you’re considering working at Kia Durban South, I would strongly urge you to do your research and speak to former employees if you can. And if you’re a customer, just know that the way staff are treated behind the scenes may not reflect the brand image you see on the outside.

Unless Kia South Africa or Motus steps in to address this culture, I don’t believe anything will change. From what I saw and lived through, it’s going to take serious intervention for a healthier environment to be created. As long as it’s ignored, that cycle of harm will continue — and that’s not something I could stay silent about.