Johannesburg - Former Passenger Rail Agency of SA executive Daniel Mthimkhulu, who has been slapped with a R5.7million judgment, looks back with regret at a joke that he took to the head.
“I would admit where I’ve gone wrong. I don’t have a PhD,” Mthimkhulu told The Star during an interview on Thursday.
“Being called Dr was something that was coming as a light note from colleagues.
“I regret not having corrected it to say ‘guys stop calling me that’.
“One can admit that one shouldn’t have taken that thing seriously. It was something on a lighter note.
“One of the mistakes I did and would admit is that having the title on my email signature was wrong,” Mthimkhulu said.
But in response to allegations that he used the title to get the executive manager: engineering services job
in 2010, he said: “I never put it on a CV.
“None of the promotions I had (within Prasa) required me to provide a PhD. I never applied for the position but got promoted.”
He said the Dr title gained traction among colleagues who recognised him for his locomotive expertise and experience he had gathered within Prasa. They called him the doctor of trains as a joke, he said.
Mthimkhulu joined Transnet in 1998, after taking up a learnership. He later moved to Metrorail, Prasa’s biggest entity, where he “grew organically through the ranks”.
It was the Dr title that sank Mthimkhulu’s career. Stories broke out in 2015 that a fake Dr was head engineer at Prasa.
Judge Leoni Windell, who on Monday ruled he should pay Prasa the R5.7m that he accumulated during his tenure in his executive position, heard factual evidence on how he abused the title.
Everyone at Prasa referred to him as “Dr Mthimkhulu”. Also, he signed his emails as “Dr” and his business cards reflected the title.
Judge Windell shot down Mthimkhulu’s submission that the Dr title was just a nickname. “I find Mr Mthimkhulu’s explanation, although at times entertaining, highly improbable. His version is clearly false,” the judge said.
Prasa maintained in court that Mthimkhulu also claimed to have a National Diploma and BTech degree qualifications from the Vaal University of Technology when applying for the executive post.
Mthimkhulu on Thursday denied that he stated his qualifications anywhere.
But Judge Windell found in Prasa’s favour.
“I am satisfied that Mr Mthimkhulu falsely represented to Prasa that he held a national diploma and a bachelor’s degree from the VUT.
“This false representation induced Prasa to appoint him in the position of executive manager: engineering services,” Judge Windell found.
Mthimkhulu said he has instructed his lawyers to appeal the judgment in its entirety. He believed another court would consider and test his evidence better.
“The judge ignored all the evidence including submissions of my legal counsel. It’s like I was not represented in the hearing.”