Former Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) group chief executive Tshepo Lucky Montana did not pitch up at the Special Tribunal on Tuesday 11 August, leaving his multimillion-rand properties locked under an extended court order.

Montana was supposed to appear before the tribunal to explain why an interim preservation order granted on 8 July should not become final. Instead, he sent a lawyer who told Special Tribunal president judge Bernard Ngoepe he had been briefed only 30 minutes before the hearing and was completely unprepared to argue the case.

The tribunal ordered Montana to comply with its directives and extended the interim order until a date still to be set, keeping the freeze on the assets in place.

Two luxury homes under scrutiny

The legal fight centres on two high-value residential properties registered in Montana’s name. The first is a prime property in upscale Waterkloof, Pretoria, bought for R2,25 million. The second is a sprawling estate in Hurlingham, Johannesburg, purchased for R13,5 million, where the original house was later demolished.

The preservation order stops any attempt to sell, transfer, lease or burden the properties while civil recovery proceedings continue. The Registrar of Deeds in Pretoria was instructed to mark the title deeds with formal caveats blocking transfers or encumbrances without permission from the tribunal.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) says both homes were bought with proceeds from corrupt networks linked to Prasa during Montana’s time as group chief executive.

Money trail from bloated security tender

The preservation order follows a deep financial probe into claims of corruption at Prasa. Investigators found what they describe as a direct money trail connecting Montana’s property purchases to kickbacks from Prasa’s Integrated Security Access Management System (ISAMS) tender.

The contract was awarded in April 2011 to Siyangena Technologies, a subsidiary of TMM Holdings, to upgrade station security ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It grew from an initial R1,96 billion to over R5,6 billion by 2016 through repeated extensions.

According to SIU findings, Montana’s legitimate income could not account for the purchase of either property. Bank analysis revealed complex corporate routing mechanisms instead.

Complex corporate web exposed

In June 2014, Precise Trade and Invest 02, run by a legal representative for the TMM group, received R1,85 million and R4 million from TMM Holdings. Precise Trade then paid R2,25 million directly to transferring attorneys to register the Waterkloof property in Montana’s name.

In April 2015, after receiving substantial payouts from Prasa, Siyangena transferred R13 million to TMM Holdings. TMM Holdings immediately moved R12 million into a previously empty Botswana-registered bank account belonging to Midtownbrace. Midtownbrace then sent R11,5 million, topped up by an earlier R2 million deposit from Precise Trade, to complete the R13,5 million purchase of the Hurlingham estate.

Although Montana continues to oppose the SIU’s application, his absence at Tuesday’s hearing weakens his defence against permanent forfeiture of the properties.

The tribunal has ordered the SIU to formally start its main civil recovery proceedings against Montana within 30 days of the original July ruling. Along with Montana, several corporate co-respondents, including Precise Trade, Siyangena Technologies, TMM Holdings and Midtownbrace, have been called to respond.

The SIU will refer any evidence of criminal conduct found during the investigation to the National Prosecuting Authority for potential criminal prosecution.

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