Illustrative image: Former Prasa CEO Lucky Montana. (Photo: Gallo Images / City Press / Leon Sadiki) | TMM Holdings’ Mario Ferreira. (Photo: Supplied) The Special Tribunal, which was set up to help recover public funds that went missing through alleged corruption in the public sector, has granted the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) an interim preservation order to freeze two properties owned by former Prasa boss Lucky Montana.
This comes after the SIU had obtained evidence that the properties were bankrolled by a Prasa contractor, one that had secured contracts from the public rail operator worth more than R5-billion during Montana’s time in charge of the state-owned entity (SOE).
The SIU’s latest move against Montana comes 11 years after this journalist first detailed questionable property transactions linking him to the contractor and the firm’s lawyer.
Investigations published from 2015 to as recently as this year unpacked suspicious cash flows and property dealings that tied Montana to Siyangena Technologies and various entities and individuals associated with the Gauteng-based firm. The investigations were published in Rapport newspaper, News24 and, finally, Daily Maverick.
Between 2011 and 2015, Siyangena secured contracts from Prasa worth R5.6-billion for an Integrated Security Access Management System, which encompassed electronic security gates, cameras and related equipment at Prasa train stations across the country.
The suspicious financial dealings, meanwhile, involved five upmarket properties in Johannesburg and Pretoria, purchased without bonds, with a combined price tag of roughly R45-million.
The freezing order
The Special Tribunal’s interim preservation order relates to two of the five suspicious property deals.
In June 2014, Montana became the owner of a property in Waterkloof, Pretoria, one of several that he would buy in the sought-after neighbourhood.
The SIU’s damning evidence indicates that the purchase was bankrolled with funds diverted from the Integrated Security Access Management System contract Prasa had awarded to Siyangena.
In March 2014, Prasa transferred R94-million to Siyangena, one of myriad part-payments stemming from the R5.6-billion Integrated Security Access Management System contract.
Siyangena subsequently moved R4-million to TMM Holdings, its holding company. Next, TMM Holdings transferred all of the R4-million to Precise Trade and Invest 02, a shelf company established by TMM’s lawyer, Riaan van der Walt.
Meanwhile, Engineering Systems Solutions (ESS), another TMM subsidiary, transferred R1.85-million to Precise Trade and Invest.
Utilising the funds Precise Trade and Invest received from TMM Holdings and ESS, Precise Trade and Invest paid R2.25-million to the transfer attorneys attending to Montana’s Waterkloof purchase. The remaining funds in the Precise Trade and Invest account, together with additional monies channelled into the lawyer’s shelf company, would later be used for other dubious property deals involving Montana.
The Hurlingham deal
The Waterkloof acquisition was but a small boon compared to other property transactions involving Montana and his alleged corruptors from Siyangena.
The second property that features in the SIU’s interim preservation order is located in the Johannesburg neighbourhood of Hurlingham, bought by Montana in 2015 for R13.5-million.
In 2018, this journalist revealed that Precise Trade and Invest had channeled R2-million into the Hurlingham transaction. The Zondo Commission later obtained financial records proving that those funds had again originated from TMM Holdings, Siyangena Technologies’ holding company.
This journalist’s 2018 investigative report, meanwhile, also revealed that the remaining R11.5-million had come from a mysterious entity called Midtownbrace, which was incorporated in Botswana and not in South Africa.
The SIU’s investigation has now seemingly closed the loop in terms of where those funds came from.
In April 2015, flush with the billions it had received from Prasa, Siyangena transferred R13-million to its holding company, TMM. The latter then paid R12-million to Midtownbrace, the entity registered in Botswana. The following month, Midtownbrace paid R11.5-million to the transfer attorneys for Montana’s massive 5,000m² Hurlingham property.
The SIU’s investigation points to a “direct and uninterrupted money trail” that links the two properties to Siyangena’s R5.6-billion Prasa contracts, the corruption buster said in a statement.
“The Tribunal has since directed the respondents to appear on 11 August 2026 to show why the interim preservation order should not be made final. The Tribunal also ordered that the main proceedings against Montana must be instituted within 30 days of the order.”
Montana did not respond to requests for comment. He could not be reached on is cellphone.
‘Lies’ on a ‘holy day’
In a lengthy post on social media platform X, Montana stated that he had already filed a notice to oppose the interim order, and that the SIU had become “desperate”.
He claimed the SIU had “unleashed its overzealous propaganda machinery” against him and that its application for the interim order was “nonsensical”.
“What surprises me is the SIU choosing Sunday, a holy day for many Christians in the land, to lie to citizens that it had obtained a preservation order against two of my properties. It is a blue lie. It obtained a provisional order to start the legal process. They chose Sunday to tell this lie, hoping this will have the biggest impact and present me as a criminal,” fumed Montana.
The SIU’s statement, meanwhile, does mention that the order was of an interim nature and that Montana could oppose it.
Montana remains confident that he won’t be losing any of his assets.
“The SIU and other Organs of State continue to dream of the day they will feed on the carcass of Lucky Montana. But this will not happen, not in this lifetime. I wish the SIU all the best in this latest attempt, but they will not get any of my houses.”
If the alleged property deals indeed constitute alleged corruption, Montana may very well lose more than the two properties.
“Any evidence of criminal conduct uncovered during the investigation is referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for consideration and further action,” read the SIU statement. DM