Mr Sewale addressed the Estate Agency Affairs Board on Thursday.

In July Mr Sexwale dissolved the board following leadership challenges and appointed lawyer Taswell Papier as administrator of the board in August.

The minister reminded the board that it was answerable to his department and no longer fell under the Department of Trade and Industry.

"You are dealing with what they call the upper market. You are big and lofty … you had a problem with being under human settlements because you think of me as the ‘minister of shacks’. This is a government of the people, not a government of the lowly or the high," Mr Sexwale said.

He also challenged the industry to play a bigger role in transformation. Without mentioning any names, Mr Sexwale said there were three financial institutions that were willing to assist him by providing finance to people across market segments.

Mr Sexwale said there was potential for the industry to be involved in markets that could be created by initiatives including the establishment of Joe Slovo City in the Lephalale area with 30,000 "quality houses".

Meanwhile, Mr Papier said the new board was conducting a due diligence exercise to clarify the nature of the allegations of mismanagement against the previous board to be probed by the Special Investigating Unit.

He said that in the Fidelity Fund the industry had an instrument designed to protect the public from theft and professional negligence.

"This fund has grown to approximately R600m and all statistics are fully disclosed and reported on in the (board’s) audited annual financial statements," Mr Papier said.

The board aimed to become a world-class regulator for a fully compliant industry and negative experiences linked to the board would be attended to, he said.