He added that the project was conceptualised in 2011 and was to be financed at a cost of R114m a year for three years.
In the first year, the provincial executive committee, he said, resolved that his department should “reprioritise R30m” from other projects and a provincial treasury committee was to come up with ways to find R84m.
Commission chairperson deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo was puzzled by this, as it gave him the impression that the project was not properly planned if it did not have a budget.
“In terms of thorough planning, I agree with the chair, it looks clumsy,” Zwane admitted.
Zwane, however, dismissed allegations that he intimidated and threatened to kill whistle-blowers who lifted the lid on the alleged wrongs identified in the Vrede farm project.
He slammed the commission for accepting such allegations, saying they were made without being backed up by evidence.
“It is unfair on me that such serious allegations can just be made without any evidence,” he said.
TimesLIVE