Neither axed CEO Lucky Montana, not Prasa seem to be particularly pressed to resolve the beleaguered parastatal’s current woes, writes Don Makatile.
Police and rail are unlikely bedfellows. After the police bloopers as outlined in the Marikana report, it was the turn of rail to hog the headlines this week. But while the wailing induced by the transgressions of the police was guttural and no laughing matter, the tears around rail matters were largely the result of mirth.
As the comedy of errors unfolded at Prasa, the passenger rail agency, even the most dour tried their hand at humour, with variations of the noun rail and its verb cousin, derail.
The butt of most of the jokes was the rail agency’s sacked chief executive, Lucky Montana.
Montana has often been in the headlines – thanks to his job and lifestyle. However, rarely to such comical effect.
One would have thought that when Prasa board chairman Popo Molefe made public Montana’s dismissal, the latter would consider the move as just water off a duck’s back as he was leaving the parastatal anyway. Having effectively resigned, Montana was serving a notice period from June 1.
But enter Scene One, Act One of the tragi-comedy, which sadly included the death of his uncle, Montana kicked off a great hue and cry over being released from his duties four months before time.
Fast-forward to the reactions on his departure from segments of the transport industry and you’d be forgiven for thinking the man was on his way out of his own volition.
Taxi bodies Santaco and the National Taxi Alliance have, through their respective bosses, slammed the sacking, saying “Montana was good to the taxi industry”.
He cannot go, they said. The matter of his resignation is another country for the taxi men.
This is the same taxi industry that is normally averse to taking just a slice of the transport pie, preferring to grubbily keep the whole, as evinced by their violent protests in Mamelodi last week at the introduction of Autopax on the routes formerly plied by Putco. Montana once headed Autopax.
A close associate of Montana could only speak – and at length – to The Sunday Independent off the record. But it is not rocket science to know he who pays the piper plays the tune. And Montana seems to play fine tunes, the allure of which many find engrossing.
The dynamics of the union-employer relationship are traditionally adversarial. But transport union Satawu speaks of Montana in terms one reserves for a Messiah.
Granted, an entry in Montana’s CV says he was the recipient of the Africa Rail Personality of the Year Award in 2008.
But he’s no saint, a fact that seems to rile his cheerleaders.
Satawu acting general secretary Zenzo Mahlangu was on SAfm on Friday and he cast aspersions on the Prasa board for showing Montana the door. He credited Montana with effecting transformation at Prasa but said he was not shocked to hear of his demise.
If there was a purge, Mahlangu said, “it can’t be Lucky alone”.
He charged the board comprised “people with criminal records”. This is the common refrain of the Montana camp. Their official statement demanded the “Prasa board reinstate Montana immediately”.
“Satawu also demands the Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, dismisses the Prasa board with immediate effect. We believe the decision by the irregular board to fire CEO Lucky Montana is illegal. We have said time again the Prasa board was appointed illegally. Therefore it (stands) to reason that any decision made by this board is illegal…”
Later in the day, radio reports referred to threats from Satawu to disrupt rail services if their man was not back at his desk soon.
For his part, Montana was not twiddling his thumbs. He was working at fever pitch, though at odds with those who want him back.
He called a press conference. A colleague who attended said Montana thanked his ancestors in Xitsonga before summarily calling a halt to proceedings.
He no longer felt the compulsion to give his side of the story. This act was a stroke of genius, one of his backers said.
But the truth is it offered more comic relief than the poor effort of Prasa, which had earlier cancelled the media briefing they had convened. No reasons were given.
In the meantime, the rumour mill is allowed free rein on whether the locomotives procured from Spain at a cost of R600 million were an issue at play here.
Standing at 4.264m high, the locomotives are said to exceed the allocated local height of 3.965m. Prasa puts their roof height at 4.1m.
When the story broke, Montana blamed it on racism as the qualifications of the chief engineer, Daniel Mtimkulu, came under scrutiny.
Montana had hardly finished thanking his ancestors when his Who’s Who profile was updated to declare him a former group chief of Prasa.
But he does not seem to be particularly pressed to act with equal haste in other areas of this conundrum. Neither does Prasa.
* The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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