Former Passenger Rail Agency of SA (PRASA) group chief executive officer, Lucky Montana, and four other board members on Wednesday announced that they have filed papers in the court to review adverse findings against them by the Zondo Commission.
In his final report in June this year, Justice Raymond Zondo made damning findings against the rail agency’s former senior executives and suggested a special commission of inquiry be set up to look further into the affairs of PRASA, which he suggested would likely uncover more corruption and wrongdoing.
However, on Wednesday those accused on wrong doing in the report said in a joint statement: “Today, we, five former members of the PRASA Board filed papers with the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Johannesburg against the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector and Organs of State (State Capture Commission).”
The former PRASA board members added: “This is an application to review and set aside the findings and recommendation in respect of PRASA as detailed in Part 5 Volume II of the Final Report of the State Capture Commission.”
The five applicants are former PRASA Chairman Sfiso Buthelezi, former chairperson of the Board’s Committee on Finance, Capital Investment and Procurement (FCIP) Dr. Bridgete Gasa-Toboti, Mmatebogo Nkoenyane – who served on the FCIP Committee, Nkosinathi Khena – who served on the audit and risk management committee and Lucky Montana, former PRASA group CEO.
The applicants said they authorised the former PRASA Board chairman, Sfiso Buthelezi, to depose to the founding affidavit and “be our spokesperson in respect of this matter”.
The applicants added: “We have had time to study the Findings and Recommendations of the Final Report of the State Capture Commission in respect of PRASA and are convinced the report is reviewable on numerous grounds.”
The grounds for review put forward by the former
PRASA board members included claims of “selective application of the Commission’s rules and regulations, factual inaccuracies, disregard of evidence and the fact that Justice Zondo relied, during public hearings and in his final report, on untested information…”.
The former board members said the “untested information” was provided at the Commission “by various persons without any opportunity being afforded to some of the applicants to present their version and confront their accusers under oath at the time of their presenting the untested information to the Commission”.
Their statement added that, “findings by Justice Zondo on both Swifambo and Siyangena are not only erroneous but factually incorrect and not rationally connected to the ‘Terms of Reference’ of the Commission.
“We have seen the Commission under Justice Zondo acting in violation of its terms of reference.”
A date is yet to be confirmed when the matter will be heard in court.
