Former Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) CEO Lucky Montana on Tuesday told the parliamentary inquiry into Eskom that he resisted a political attempt to impose a new board at the entity that would be favourable to the Gupta brothers and help them secure contracts in a locomotive tender considered one of the biggest in the world.

Montana said in his observation there was truth to the widespread perception that the family of Indian origin had corrupted the country's state-owned companies on a vast scale, and fingered two former ministers and the head of the ruling party's finances.

"If an [annual general meeting] AGM gets cancelled and the Guptas told me two weeks earlier, then I think there is an element of truth in that statement," Montana said after more than two hours of testimony before the portfolio committee on public enterprises.

He told the portfolio committee on public enterprises that he threatened to call a media briefing to expose the plans in 2014, driven by then transport minister Dipuo Peters and former African National Congress (ANC) treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize, to change the PRASA board after the Gupta family failed to secure a contract with China South Rail.

The plans even briefly included a proposal to impose Jimmy Manyi, who recently took over the Guptas's media interests, as the chairman of the entity.

Montana also implicated Deputy Public Enterprises Minister Ben Martins in dealings with the Gupta family, saying he had introduced Tony Gupta, to himself, again with President Jacob Zuma's son Duduzane, in 2012.

He said he was therefore quite surprised to the strongly-worded denial issued by Martins, a former minister of transport, to testimony before the inquiry by Eskom's suspended head of legal Suzanne Daniels linking him to the Gupta brothers.

Montana, who called Martins a friend, however commended him for supporting sound technical decisions on selecting trains to replace Metrorail's aging rolling stock, and also supporting his stance on the board. 

Montana was fired as PRASA chief executive in 2015 and claimed that this was because of his push-back against corruption.

He stressed that he insisted that PRASA was a local company and he saw no need for people with passports from India or Dubai on the board – a reference to the Gupta brothers. Montana said he took the matter to the chairman of PRASA at the time, Sfiso Buthulezi, who is the current deputy minister of finance, on the matter, and told him he was prepared to resign but would call a press briefing to reveal the wrangling surrounding the board.

He said he then met Martins at the Cape Town Station in late 2012 and they found common ground.

"He indicated that PRASA should proceed with its procurement process and that he will defend the Board. He said he will fight alongside us as his comrades and will take the matter to Cabinet for approval," Montana said.

"Today he can take credit that the trains he defended are being introduced."

Montana defended himself against reports that the locomotives were grossly mismatched with South Africa's infrastructure, going as far as saying those who had written that were unwittingly playing into the hands of the Gupta family when they tried to subvert the tender process to enrich themselves.

"They will never challenge the science that I put into this thing. This country trained me and sent me everywhere to acquire the skills. It is not superstition," he said, adding that he should hold public lectures to explain the logistics of the rail overhaul.

Montana said the extent of corruption in state tenders dawned on him during a business trip to Berlin, when suppliers began demanding bribes.

"I had no doubt the goose had already been cooked," he said.

The tension surrounding the tender process was so extreme that on another trip, this time to London, he realised that he was being followed and eventually took to carrying a firearm. He said he had no doubt that he was being watched to see if he was taking money.

He said he realised people were trying to establish if he was taking money and from who.

"I am waiting for the day they are going to say it flowed to Montana," he said, adding that he held no foreign bank accounts or passports.

"If South Africa burns, I burn with it."

According to leaked emails linked to the Gupta business empire, a company called Tequesta had raked in billions by serving as a superfluous agent on a deal between state freight operator Transnet and South China Rail for more than 1 000 new locomotives. It was set up by Salim Essa, one of the Gupta brothers' main business associates.