'Prove claims or I will sue you'

EMBATTLED Passenger Rail of SA (Prasa) chairman Lucky Montana says he has given Satawu president Ephraim Mphahlele five days to prove that he is corrupt or face a lawsuit.

Montana says Mphahlele's allegations have dealt his reputation a severe blow.

Last week Mphahlele called for Montana's suspension over alleged tender irregularities. Mphahlele claimed to have kept a dossier detailing them, but has since failed to produce it.

"It is so common in SA where you find one person publicly accusing another of being corrupt and the next day they say sorry," Motana said on Friday.

If Mphahlele did not come up with evidence he was going to sue him for defamation, Montana said. He said the trouble started when he suspended four of Mphahlele's friends.

Montana said the allegations had come at a very bad time, when Prasa was going through a massive investment programme, which would see Metrorail trains being upgraded to the tune of R123billion with a further R14billion spent on upgrading the rail system.