Two weeks after being appointed Minister of Public Works, Thulas Nxesi has changed the way leases are approved by his department.
From now on only the acting director-general of the department, Mandla Mabuza, can approve lease deals.
Department spokesman Lucky Mochalibane said Nxesi viewed "the whole area of lease contract management as potentially liable to controversy".
Mochalibane said Nxesi's move was "prompted by the public outcry around procurement of office accommodation and other moveable assets for client departments".
The ministry has been rocked by allegations of corruption first exposed by the Sunday Times.
In July Public Protector Thuli Madonsela released the findings of her investigation into the leasing of the controversial police headquarters in Pretoria and in Durban.
Madonsela found that both Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele and former Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde had acted "improperly" and "unlawfully", and that the R1.78-billion lease deals were illegal and invalid.
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