Tshepo Lucky Montana
Group CEO

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). Montana, a former Deputy Director-General responsible for Public Transport (bus, taxi and rail operations) in the Department of Transport, was seconded to the SARCC as CEO in July 2006, and his permanent appointment was approved by Cabinet in October 2007.

Montana is a former student and youth activist who cut his teeth during the popular mass uprisings of the 1980s and in the ANC Political Underground. He served on the Western Cape Provincial Executive Committee of the SACP for 10 years.

Montana studied and completed a Bachelor of Social Sciences in 1992 and an Honours Degree in Industrial Sociology (Social Research Methods) in 1993, both with the University of Cape Town (UCT). He was selected in 1994 for a Course on “Economic Policy Formulation for South African Economic Policy Makers” developed and presented by the Clingendael Institute in the Netherlands. The studies were 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, SMMEs in Economic Development, Energy and Transport Policies, Foreign Direct Investment, Regional Economic Integration as well as the Role of Multilateral Institutions (WTO, IMF and World Bank). Montana successfully completed the course with the submission of a Research 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. Montana completed the Construction Management Programme (CMP) in 1999, presented by the Universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Witwatersrand and Pretoria.

His insight and experience in the transport sector dates back to 1999 when he was part of the team developing a strategy for the restructuring of Transnet, known then as the “Transnet End-State”. He was directly involved with the work on the Transnet Pension Amendment Act which resulted in the restructuring of the Fund and the establishment of three pension funds within the Transnet Pension Fund. Montana served on the Steering Committee looking at the restructuring of Spoornet – a Division of Transnet. He was also appointed the Co-Chair of the Ports Restructuring Committee (PRC), mandated to explore restructuring options for the Durban Container Terminal and the Ports Sector as a whole, which reported directly to the Ministers of Public Enterprises and Transport. This process involved the review of and negotiations on the National Ports Authority Bill, which was later adopted by Parliament as the National Ports Act.

As Government’s chief negotiator on restructuring and coordinator of the National Framework Agreement (NFA) since 1999, Montana spearheaded the work on the Eskom Conversion Bill with the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprise, which paved the way for the transformation of ESKOM from a Commission into the modern Company it is today.

As Deputy Director-General in the Transport Department, Montana was given the responsibility for the revision of the Taxi Recapitalization Programme, resulting in the scrapping of both tenders for the New Taxi Vehicles (NTVs) and the Electronic Management System (EMS), the introduction of vehicle safety standards and specifications for new taxi vehicles, as well as a once-off scrapping allowance of R50 000 for old taxi vehicles. Montana was also tasked in March 2005 with the responsibility of leading the evaluation of the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link, and its integration with the rest of the public transport system in the Gauteng Province.

In December 2004, Cabinet approved the consolidation of passenger rail entities into a single passenger entity reporting to the Minister of Transport. Montana was tasked with the responsibility of managing and overseeing the consolidation process, culminating in the public launch of PRASA in March 2009, which Montana is honoured to lead.

Montana was appointed to the Board of the SARCC by Cabinet in 2005. He was awarded the Africa Rail Personality of the Year Award in 2008. He was appointed Chairman of the Board of Intersite Property Management Services (IPMS) in March 2009, and in March 2011, Chairman of Autopax, both subsidiaries of PRASA.