Ex-Prasa boss slams ANC lies

FORMER Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) group chief executive Lucky Montana said he was disappointed with President Cyril Ramaphosa's testimony last week.

He said the ANC leader missed an opportunity to tell the truth before Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

Montana, who testified at the Zondo Commission yesterday, was responding to allegations that the ANC received R80 million from Swifambo Rails – a company that was awarded a R3.5 billion tender for the procurement of locomotives.

Montana said the ANC did not want to admit it, but the party had a huge influence on state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

He said it was “a way of life” in the ANC to use public funds to finance its political activities and for ANC leaders to advance their own personal agendas.

Montana told the commission that the ANC had a culture of requesting funding from SOEs through connections.

“I was disappointed when I listened to what the ANC told you in this commission. Our president was here. And I thought that the leadership of the country would reflect honestly on what had happened over the past.

“But for the ANC to pretend that its conferences and events are not funded from public funds, it's not true,” Montana said.

He also called on Zondo to summon the executives of SOEs and ask them about the ANC and how they were approached for financial assistance.

He alleged the ANC would give him a list of suppliers that the party owed and tell him “we think you must assist us in this way”.

“It is the way of life in the ANC that when you are in that position, you also have to find a way, whether directly or indirectly, to assist the ANC. It is a culture that is there,” Montana said.

In the Swifambo deal, Prasa paid R2.6bn of a R3.5bn contract with Swifambo Rail but only 13 of 88 locomotives were delivered and they were too tall for local infrastructure.

Earlier, Montana lambasted the former head of legal services, Martha Ngoye, when he said she had been “unruly and unco-operative”.