Prasa boss Montana in ‘swift dismissal’

Until recently, CEO defended the controversial new locomotives

PASSENGER Rail Agency of South Africa ( Prasa) chief executive Lucky Montana, pictured, has been dismissed, the state-owned company announced yesterday. Montana’s contract was due to end in December, but his notice period was cut short.

“On July 15, 2015, the board of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) resolved that Mr Montana will not be required to work the remainder of his notice period, which commenced on June 1, 2015,” the Prasa board said.

Prasa chief operations officer Nathi Khena would act as chief executive until a replacement was found.

The board did not give reasons for Montana’s dismissal, but said it would address a media conference in Pretoria today.

Meanwhile, leadership positions at other parastatals have also been shuffled.

Transnet’s chief financial officer, Anoj Singh, will be seconded to Eskom for six months, the chairpersons of the Transnet and Eskom boards said in a joint statement yesterday.

Singh will serve as acting chief financial officer of the cash-strapped electricity utility from August 1.

“He will attend both the Eskom board of directors and the executive committee meetings. He will be responsible for driving all aspects of the company’s finance strategy, including the R250 billion funding plan,” Eskom chairman Ben Ngubane and Transnet chairwoman Linda Mabaso said.

“At Eskom, he will be primarily tasked with transforming the company’s finance function, aligning it with key strategic priorities of generation, funding and build programme, while enhancing the approach to tariff applications.” Singh has been Transnet’s CFO for the past six years and has played a key role in the logistics group’s seven-year infrastructure investment programme, which includes the acquisition of more than a thousand new locomotives.

“Under Mr Singh’s leadership, Transnet has accessed funding from global investors,” the statement said.