Guptas: Montana lashes Martins

FORMER Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) boss Lucky Montana has thrown the book back at Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises Ben Martins regarding the Guptas.

Montana on his Facebook page yesterday denied bringing Rajesh (Tony) Gupta to a meeting with Martins when he was minister of transport.

Martins, who was minister between 2012 and 2013, had told a media briefing in Parliament earlier that he met the Guptas three or four times, and on one occasion, Rajesh came to his ministerial house in Pretoria with Montana to discuss Prasa matters.

This related to the demand by the Guptas for the removal of Montana and then Prasa chairperson Sfiso Buthelezi from Prasa. Buthelezi is now deputy minister of finance.

Montana denied knowing Rajesh.

“For the record, I never knew or met any Gupta until invited by Minister Martins to his ministerial house in Pretoria. It is rather unfortunate that I am presented to have brought with me Rajesh Gupta, who I had never met before.

“He (Gupta) came with Duduzane Zuma to the meeting, clearly at the invitation of my leader, comrade and friend, Ben Martins. I did not know these two were coming to join us,” said Montana.

He said he had rejected the Guptas as far back as 2012, when it was not fashionable to do so.

He accused Martins of twisting the facts. Montana said he was the only chief executive in the country to stand up to the Guptas when they allegedly tried to manipulate the R53 billion locomotives tender at Prasa.

Martins denied he met with the Guptas, Duduzane and suspended head of legal services at Eskom Suzanne Daniels at Melrose Arch in July. He called Daniels a liar. –