Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) called a press briefing to explain CEO Lucky Montana’s departure, but then cancelled it on Friday morning.

“After consultations between the Minister [of Transport Dipuo Peters] and the board, there has been a mutual agreement that there will be no press conference today,” PRASA group strategy officer Sipho Sithole told a room full of reporters at its Pretoria head office shortly after 11:00.

He said no questions would be entertained. The parties felt that a press statement issued about the matter on Thursday was sufficient. The decision had been made “just now” Sithole said, before leaving.

It was not clear whether a separate press briefing, by Montana at 14:00, would still go ahead.

On Thursday, PRASA’s board said in a statement that Montana had been fired with immediate effect on Wednesday.

PRASA has faced questions over the purchase of new diesel locomotives from Spain, and over a R51-billion tender for the purchase of 600 trains for its fleet renewal programme.

The agency had reportedly ignored warnings from engineers that the 13 Afro 4000 locomotives, imported from Spain for R600-million, were too high for local railways and could damage overhead cables.

On July 6, Montana and PRASA’s chief engineer Daniel Mthimkhulu denied this.

“We meet the safety standards," Montana said.

"We have bought one of the best locomotives in the world and we are not even apologetic about that."

PRASA was buying 20 diesel Afro 4000 locomotives, plus another 50 hybrid ones, for a total of R3.5-billion.

The PRASA board said that on Wednesday it resolved that Montana would not have to work the remainder of his notice period, which started on June 1, until December.

Until the board had found a suitable replacement, PRASA chief operations officer and Autopax acting CEO Nathi Khena would step into the role.

"As a board, we want to appeal to all of you (employees) to remain focused on your day-to-day functions and the responsibility that you have been entrusted with by the company.

"It is imperative that we remain professional and committed to deliver on the broader mandate of this organisation," the board said.

News24.com