Johannesburg - The commission of inquiry into state capture will continue to hear evidence related to allegations of corruption at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) from former group chief executive officer Lucky Montana today.
The commission will also hear Eskom-related evidence from an expert witness from Quintessence Digital Forensics, Cecil Louwrens.
On Tuesday, Montana not only claimed innocence in irregular contracts at the rail agency but he denied he had any links to the Gupta family and former president Jacob Zuma.
The former executive told deputy chief Justice Raymond Zondo that there was a campaign to discredit him and that those campaigners included former Prasa board chair Popo Molefe, former Prasa general manager for legal services Fani Dingiswayo and former head of legal Martha Ngoye.
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Dingiswayo and Ngoye allegedly attempted to halt improper contracts going through Prasa but Montana fired them shortly before he resigned in 2015. The duo were later reinstated at Prasa.
In Dingiswayo's affidavit, which evidence-leader Advocate Vas Soni dealt with on Tuesday, he accused Montana of approving an irregular contract with a company called Prodigy Business Solutions.
Prodigy, which listed controversial and politically – connected Durban businessman Roy Moodley as director, provided training for Prasa but billed over R82 million.
Initially the training was expected to cost R18m that would be claimed back from Transport SETA (Sector Education and Training Authority) but Prodigy was paid R82m in five years.
Montana stood firm that there was nothing irregular about that contract and said that Prodigy increased the number of people trained from 300 to 3 000 and "the project changed lives and gave people hope".
He accused his detractors of trying to link him with the Gupta family and Zuma.
“There has been this attempt to link former president Zuma to Prasa. And for some reason, I do not know why, I cannot run away from president Zuma,” said Montana.
He told the commission that they would never find the Guptas or Zuma "lurking" behind any projects implemented at Prasa during his tenure.
He has been accused of using Prasa to propel the Zuma faction into power and riches.
But, Montana thanked the commission, saying that he was finally able to clarify matters as he had always been accused of corruption and supporting factions of the ANC.
The commission is also scheduled to have an evening session to hear State Security Agency (SSA) related evidence from the inspector general of intelligence, Dr Setlhomamaru Dintwe at 4pm.
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