Former Group Chief Executive of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) Lucky Montana expressed sadness at the jailing of the agency’s former head Engineer, Daniel Mthimkhulu, and committed to “stand with him till the end.”
Mthimkhulu, once a top-ranking Chief Engineer after joining Prasa in 2000, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for faking his qualifications.
Mthimkhulu was sentenced in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Tuesday after being convicted in January 2022 on three counts of fraud.
He was found guilty of misrepresenting his qualifications to Prasa and submitting a fraudulent job offer letter that he claimed to have received from a German engineering firm, making way for R2.8 million per annum salary.
However, his former boss and now member of the MK party in the National Assembly, Montana, said in a statement on Friday that he felt Mthimkhuĺu was “crucified by the media”.
“The devil had struck. My heart bleeds for this young talent. I feel for him and will stand with him till the end. Mthimkhulu's story is a sad one. It is a story of a partisan and compromised South African Media, bent on driving a false narrative about our country, black people, and the many challenges we face.
“With his one mistake, Mthimkhulu's name has become synonymous with everything wrong about PRASA. His name is always used to demonstrate State Capture and prove how “corrupt” PRASA was under Lucky Montana.
“The media ignore all relevant facts in its determination to crucify Mthimkhulu, and by extension, Lucky Montana. The fact is I was not involved in the recruitment of Mthimkhulu. He was recruited by Metrorail, then under Transnet. This was seven years before Metrorail was transferred to the SARCC in 2005 and eight years before Montana was appointed SARCC CEO. This was eleven years before PRASA was formed in 2009,” wrote Montana.
Explaining how Mthimkhuĺu rose to power, he said “Mthimkhulu and a group of fellow student engineers submitted a proposal to Metrorail in Braamfontein, Metrorail seemed fascinated by his ideas. The company appointed him in 1998 as a trainee engineer or apprentice, and, later, transferred him to Cape Metrorail.
“Those who appointed him knew he did not complete his engineering degree. The management of Metrorail further promoted him numerous times to senior engineering and operational management roles, based on his competency and experience”.
Montana said Mthimkhulu did not use the time he had to complete his engineering degree, which was his mistake.
According to Montana, whenever Metrorail presented a list of its engineering or technical team, Mthimkhulu’s name was always on the list.
“When I joined the SARCC, predecessor to PRASA, he was listed in the technical grades,” he stated.
Clarifying his position on the role played by the media in Mthimkhulu’s qualifications scandal, he argued the media wanted to make the point that Mthimkhulu was Montana’s “fake engineer”.
“The innuendo and systemic dishonesty is that Montana brought Mthimkhulu to PRASA to manage big tenders and manipulate these in favour of Montana’s political allies and friends.
“The media went further and labeled him “PRASA’s Senior Engineer” - a position that never existed at PRASA. Mthimkhulu never performed the “Senior Engineer” role for PRASA as implied by the media…
“He did not plan and design systems or develop technical drawings. He was the Executive Manager in PRASA’s Rail Division, a management role overseeing rail engineering teams. He reported to PRASA’s Rail Divisional CEO, Mosengwa Mofi, and not to me as PRASA Group CEO.”
Montana mentioned that the media was not interested in Mthimkhulu’s immediate boss, but were after Montana.
“Mthimkhulu may have lied about his academic qualifications or called himself a “Doctor”, but he did not make any misrepresentation to Metrorail, SARCC, or PRASA about his qualifications. He did not commit fraud.
“My heart is bleeding with this travesty of justice, which has become so common when judicial officers feel it is their duty to fight State Capture or Corruption, and go out of their way to deal with this, irrespective of the evidence before them. The NPA refused to prosecute many others who lied about their qualifications, arguing this was not a crime. The same principle, however, did not apply to Mthimkhulu.”
He explained that Mthimkhulu made a significant contribution to the country’s railways, adding that he was part of the agency when it functioned and delivered passenger services to citizens.
“Today, under the very forces persecuting him and fighting State Capture, everything had collapsed. His beloved Metrorail, PRASA, and Transnet have collapsed and are unable to deliver services which he had built as Senior Technical Operations Manager at Metrorail and later as an executive manager within the PRASA Group.”
Montana said he would be visiting his former colleague in prison and that he intended to engage his family, legal counsel, and other legal minds to see what other legal options were available to him as he believed Mthimkhulu did not deserve the punishment imposed on him.
Sunday Independent