The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa's R3.5-bn 'too tall' locomotives contract was one of South Africa's most costly procurement scandals. Newly obtained tax records offer compelling clues that link Prasa's disgraced former CEO to a recipient of some of the botched deal's allegedly illicit funds.

Records related to a tax battle between former Passenger Rail Agency of South African (Prasa) boss Lucky Montana and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) offer compelling clues that link Montana financially to an entity that received more than R30-million from the main contractor in Prasa's infamous R3.5-billion "too tall" locomotives debacle.

SARS in October 2025 publicly released Montana's tax records following a longstanding legal fight over his tax returns.

The revenue collector slapped Montana with a R55-million tax bill over income the former Prasa boss had allegedly failed to declare.

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A previous Daily Maverick analysis unpacked the SARS records in relation to Montana's questionable property dealings, an endeavour aided by documents collected over almost a decade. The records suggested that Montana substantially benefited from property dealings involving a Prasa contractor that clinched contentious security infrastructure contracts worth R4.5-billion.

Catch up the backstory -- Lucky Montana's tax woes and the R4.5bn Prasa scandal October 15, 2025 Our focus now shifts to certain bank transfers into Montana's accounts, flagged by SARS as taxable income that the former Prasa boss allegedly failed to declare.

While the revenue collector's audits had the sole purpose of clawing back taxes based...