Johannesburg - Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has insisted
it was too early for government to stop its intervention in Limpopo's finances,
despite complaints from the province, according to a report on Wednesday.
Gordhan told Parliament's standing committee on finance on
Tuesday that "there is some propaganda" to undermine the
intervention, reported Business Day newspaper.
"Clearly people who would have been benefiting from
inappropriate access to public funds are going to squeal because those funds
are no longer circulating," he was quoted as saying.
Limpopo health MEC Norman Mabasa this week expressed
frustration with the national intervention, announced in December.
The national government placed five provincial departments
under administration after Limpopo asked for an extension of its R1bn overdraft
with the Reserve Bank to R1.7bn.
Public Protector Thuli Madonsela released a report last week
which found that a tender had been awarded unlawfully in the province.
Madonsela's probe focused on the R50m contract awarded to
On-Point Engineering by the Limpopo roads and transport department.
In her report, released on Wednesday, she found the tender
was unlawful and that On-Point and expelled African National Congress Youth
League leader Julius Malema improperly benefited from this through his Ratanang
Family Trust.