On Tuesday, 30 January, Lucky Montana, who is the former CEO of the state-owned passenger rail services company, PRASA, testified at a Parliamentary inquiry into state-capture at the company.
Montana seemed relaxed and was cooperative. Below are some of his more noteworthy quotes:
“Tony Gupta is one of the most disrespectful people I’ve ever met. If it was on the streets of Mamelodi, I would have handled him differently.” – Lucky Montana
“The task of transforming the country is bigger than cleaning the Guptas, we must clean the Guptas but the problem is far deeper that we have to address.” – Lucky Montana
“In his attempt to clear his name and distance himself from the Gupta family, Deputy Minister Ben Martins stated during the media briefing that he had met members of the Gupta family on a few occasions.” – Lucky Montana
“In September 2012 I met with the honorable Ben Martins. He invited me to his ministerial house in Pretoria. I went to meet him at the time he was Minister of Transport.” – Lucky Montana
“If an AGM gets cancelled and the Guptas told me two weeks earlier, then I think there is an element of truth in that statement.” – Lucky Montana
“The 1 August 2014 board was determined by Peters and Mkhize.” – Lucky Montana
“This resulted in Popo Molefe embarking on one of the biggest investigations against individuals costing almost R200 million. They did not know that I had fought the Guptas in 2012, and supported by S’fiso Buthelezi and the Board, stood firm against Gupta attempts to manipulate the procurement process for the acquisition of new trains” – Lucky Montana
