Tshepo Lucky Montana
Group CEO

Tshepo Lucky Montana is the Group Chief Executive Officer (Group CEO) of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), formerly the South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC). A former Deputy Director-General responsible for Public Transport (bus, taxi and rail operations) in South Africa, Mr Montana was seconded in July 2006 to the SARCC in the capacity of CEO, and his permanent appointment was approved by Cabinet in October 2007. His appointment to the position of Group CEO is with effect from 1 April 2009 following the formal launch of PRASA in March 2009.

A student and youth activist who cut his teeth during the turbulent years of the 1980s and 1990s, Lucky was involved with ANC Political Underground in the eighties, and served 10 years on the Provincial Executive Committee of the SACP in the Western Cape in the 90s, this in addition to chairing the Gaby Shapiro branch of the ANC in Cape Town.

Lucky studied and completed a Bachelor of Social Sciences in 1992 and an Honours Degree in Social Research Methods in 1993, both with the University of Cape Town (UCT). He was privileged to be among the first generation of black youth to serve as public servants under the ANC-led Government following the 1994 democratic breakthrough. He was appointed in May 1994 a member of the Strategic Management Team (SMT), which was charged with the responsibility to establish the new Department of Economic Affairs and RDP in the Western Cape Province.

It was during these early years of democratic rule that many Western Governments (USA, UK, Netherlands, and Germany) and Scandinavian countries offered President Nelson Mandela the opportunity to train young black South Africans in specialized areas to equip them for governance. Lucky Montana, together with other young black youth of his generation, was selected in 1994 for a course on “Economic Policy Formulation for South African Economic Policy Makers” in the Netherlands. The studies focused on Macro and Micro Economics, Trade and Industrial Policy, Monetary and Fiscal Policy, Competition Policies, Labour Market Policy, Economic Planning and Management, Government Budget Process, The Role of Small Enterprises in Economic Development, Energy and Transport Policies, State-owned Enterprises and their Privatization, Foreign Direct Investment, Regional Economic Integration as well as The Role of Multilateral Institutions such WTO, GATT, IMF and World Bank. Lucky Montana successfully completed the course with the submission of an academic paper on Industrial Policy for Post Apartheid South Africa. This was followed a year later with a selection to be part of a training programme on Regional Economic Integration held in Germany. Among his qualifications was the completion in 1999 of the Construction Management Programme (CMP) presented by the Universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Witwatersrand and Pretoria.

Through the years in senior management positions within Government Departments, Lucky Montana gained insight into the workings of Government, developing long-lasting networks as well as that rare ability to develop and drive strategy. His career was forged during those exciting years when he was in the Ministries of Public Works, Public Enterprises and Transport. It was the years when the economy and State-Owned Entities (SOEs) were undergoing structural changes and restructuring that Lucky Montana grew tremendously to be a strategist and visionary leader. He acquired extensive knowledge, insight and life-long experiences of key of South Africa’s State-Owned Enterprises as well as practical lessons about the economy of South Africa, its development potential as well as the challenges of Corporate Governance and possibilities for fundamental social transformation.

Lucky was given the opportunity at a very young age to work at the highest level within Government and with Boards of Directors and senior executives within key SOEs like Eskom, Transnet, Telkom, and SAFCOL at critical moments of our transformation. Constant engagements with political and business leaders helped shape his understanding of the relationship between politics, development and business. More specifically, Lucky Montana learned valuable lessons about business with his direct involvement with the transformation of ESKOM from being a Commission and its incorporation as a fully-fledged company under the Companies Act. As the Convener of the then National Framework Agreement (NFA), Lucky was charged with the responsibility to oversee negotiations between Government and Labour on the various restructuring initiatives of the Government. It was during this time that he learned the invaluable lesson that forging alliances was critical to the successful implementation of any strategy.

The insight and experience gained in the transport sector dates back to 2000 when Lucky Montana was an integral part of the team developing a suitable strategy for the restructuring of Transnet known then as “Transnet End-State”. Mr Montana was involved with the restructuring of the Transnet Pension Amendment Act which resulted in the establishment of the three pension funds within the Transnet Pension Fund i.e. Transnet Retirement Fund, Transnet Pension Fund and Transnet Defined Benefit Fund. He was also appointed the Co-Chair of the Port Restructuring Committee (PRC) with Randall Howard representing Organised Labour, which explored restructuring options for the Durban Container Terminal and the Ports Sector as a whole, and reported directly to the Minister of Public Enterprises and Minister of Transport. This process involved the review of and negotiations on the National Ports Authority Bill, which was later amended and approved by Parliament as the National Ports Act. Most significantly, Lucky Montana played a significant role within the Government/Transnet Team driving the restructuring of Transnet Freight Rail, formerly Spoornet, where one of the decisions adopted during 2001/02 was for the consolidation of rail passenger entities (SARCC, Metrorail and Shosholoza Meyl) into a single-entity reporting to the Minister of Transport. Cabinet approved the consolidation of passenger rail entities in December 2004. PRASA, which Mr Montana is today honoured to lead, is a direct result of this long process of policy evolution within Government.

The years in the Department of Transport were critical in enhancing leadership qualities in Mr Montana. The attempt to forge alliances with the taxi industry, transform the nature of taxi operations and incorporate these firmly within a single public transport system proved to be a challenge. Parallel to the implementation of the taxi recapitalisation programme were preparations for the implementation of the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link (Gautrain). The negotiations between the Department of Transport with officials of the Gauteng Provincial Government and National Treasury, and the Cabinet submissions that followed cemented Mr Montana’s s vision of public transport in South Africa. Both these complex projects required resoluteness and demanded strategic, developmental and moral choices to be made, and this period and its challenges seem to have steeled and prepared Mr Montana for his role today.

Mr Montana was appointed to the Board of the SARCC by Cabinet in 2005 and served on various Board Committees prior to his appointment as SARCC CEO. He was awarded the Africa Rail Personality of the Year Award in 2008. He was appointed in March 2009 the Chairman of the Board of Intersite Property Management Company (IPMS), a subsidiary of PRASA.