Complaints pile up against foul-mouthed motoring podcaster Michael Pashut
A combative motoring podcaster and car salesman has come under fire for his crusade of “defamation, harassment and disinformation” against a vehicle manufacturer after it declined his bid for a commercial partnership.
Michael Pashut claims he is an advocate for the consumer and boasts to his thousands of followers that he does not take a cent from vehicle manufacturers.
But Mazda Southern Africa claims he has embarked on a vicious, personal attack on its staff after the company decided in 2024 not to pursue a commercial relationship with his Change Cars platform.
A legal letter dated August 6 2026, demanding he desist from his toxic tirades, quotes from various correspondence in which Pashut allegedly calls Mazda staff dumb, useless, weak, mentally ill-equipped, incompetent and stupid.
Mazda says that in one message he describes its marketing team as “not just mildly retarded, totally retarded”.
One WhatsApp to MD Bonite van der Merwe from a number saved as Pashut’s states: “I have a business to run and not a free marketing arm and advice line.”
He adds: “Mazda, you are incompetent and stupid and I want this brand to fail.”
Mazda says in its letter to Pashut that his comments are defamatory and amount to crimen injuria, harassment, hate speech and extortion.
“As a direct result of Mazda’s decision not to pay you to market their products, you have embarked upon a campaign of disinformation, defamation and harassment [against the company].”
The letter demands that Pashut “immediately and permanently desist from publishing any harassing or defamatory communications directly or indirectly related to Mazda SA”.
Following an earlier report on the Sunday Times’ sister platform TimesLive this week, motor industry workers who had experienced Pashut’s behaviour shared their stories.
Fleet manager Natalie Weston said that after a misunderstanding involving a test vehicle offered to a former Change Cars contributor, Pashut bombarded her with aggressive e-mails and WhatsApps, prompting her to seek assistance from the legal department of the company she represented.
Weston was co-ordinating the test fleet for Mercedes-Benz at the time of the exchange. The company did not respond to questions about Pashut.
Earlier this year a video on social media went viral, with Pashut delivering a hysterical tirade directed at another fleet manager, John Mulder.
As far back as 2013, Pashut was in hot water for his alleged attack on a man named Neels Stander, whose vehicle had the licence plate “Fuhrer-WP”.
The Argus newspaper reported that Pashut was criminally charged with intimidation. Stander said in court that Pashut had “called my office and threatened my office ladies, saying he was going to slit their throats and rape them”.
The case in the Bellville magistrate’s court was later struck from the roll after missing dockets stalled proceedings. Stander surrendered his number plates.
A former staffer of a digital magazine Pashut once launched said: “The nice guy persona is just an act for the public.
“Michael is a bully (the narcissistic kind) and he’s extremely entitled. When he doesn’t get what he wants, he’ll either harass you to no end or go on a smear campaign to try and get you to give in to whatever it is he wants from you for it to end.”
“I’ve also been on the receiving end of abusive phone calls and messages from him, where he throws tantrums, swearing and screaming at you for no reason.”
“The real reason for our messy breakup was the fact that I refused repeated attempts to force me into creating ‘hit pieces’ on certain vehicle importers and service providers to suit an agenda which remains murky to this day.”
The Sunday Times was unable to get Pashut’s response to these allegations. He did not respond to e-mails and WhatsApp messages. Netshifhefhe also did not respond to e-mails or answer calls.
It is understood that Pashut makes most of his income from his vehicle sales business, Auto and Bus.
He has publicly antagonised various car brand executives on his podcast.
They include Hyundai CEO Stanley Anderson and Volkswagen Group Africa’s MD Martina Biene.
Motus, which imports and distributes Hyundai vehicles in South Africa, said it had made a decision to not engage in public exchanges with him.
Volkswagen Group Africa confirmed it had sent a letter requesting Pashut to refrain from publishing contact details of its staff.