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Johannesburg - The axing of Prasa head Lucky Montana shows that there is a lack of accountability in state-owned entities, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) said on Thursday.
Numsa's general secretary Irvin Jim said Montana's removal was also evidence of maladministration and what he labelled as looting - something which was becoming prevalent in the country.
"Montana’s axing comes a few days after Eskom cleared four executives of wrongdoing after they were suspended in March this year. His exit follows the recycling of other executives from one state entity into the other such as the re-appearance of Brian Molefe as an acting CEO of Eskom after a stint at Transnet," Jim said in a statement.
"What saddens Numsa is that this merry-go-round and swopping of executives takes place with little accountability and that those who leave have their palms greased with exorbitant golden handshakes. We hope that this will not be the case with Montana."
Earlier on Thursday, the board of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) issued a statement saying that Montana had been dismissed with immediate effect.
His removal came amid reports that Prasa had put billions into new diesel locomotives which allegedly did not conform to SA rail line standards.
Numsa said it had had its own concerns about the locomotives.
Jim said that even with Montana gone, they hoped to still get answers about the deal.
"As Numsa, we are determined to get to the bottom of the Prasa board’s decision to let Lucky Montana go," he said.
Meanwhile, the Prasa board said that it resolved that Montana will not be required to work the remainder of his notice period, which commenced on June 1 until December 2015.
"Mr Montana’s last day of employment with Prasa will accordingly be July 15 2015," Prasa said in a statement on Thursday.
Until the Prasa board finds a "suitable replacement", Prasa chief operations officer Nathi Khena would step into the role.
Khena is also acting CEO of Autopax.
