International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor's special advisor Zane Dangor has been appointed to lead the department.

On Thursday, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele announced Dangor's appointment as director-general of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) following Wednesday's Cabinet meeting.

Dangor and two other appointments are subject to the verification of qualifications and the relevant clearance.

Dangor served as Pandor's special advisor since June 2018.

Before that, he had a short stint at the Soul City Institute – an organisation geared at women's rights.

He spent 10 years at the Department of Social Development, where he worked as chief operations officer, special advisor, and then director-general.

In 2018, Dangor testified that former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini created delays to allow Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) to continue as the department's social grants distributor.

Dangor testified at an inquiry at the Office of the Chief Justice, which probed Dlamini's role and liability in the social grant crisis in 2017.

The Constitutional Court appointed Judge Bernard Ngoepe to head the inquiry, which investigated whether Dlamini should be held personally liable for the costs incurred during the Sassa payment crisis.

Dangor accused Dlamini and her established work streams of having a "lack of urgency" when they looked for legal solutions that would have allowed Sassa to transfer its grants payment system from CPS to a new service provider.

Dangor's appointment came after former Dirco director-general Kgabo Mahoai was sacked in September last year.

President Cyril Ramaphosa delegated Pandor to institute disciplinary proceedings against Mahoai over a botched R118-million New York land deal.

Mahoai was found guilty of gross negligence, gross dereliction of duty, and breach of a legal obligation, as well as irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure.

Mahoai said the New York deal to buy land that didn't exist was orchestrated, and he allowed payments so that former Dirco Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane could "prevail".

On 4 March 2016, Dirco published a tender for the appointment of "a development partner, for the design, construction, operation, maintenance and finance of the suitable and sustainable office" and residential accommodation for the South African diplomatic missions in Manhattan, New York City.

The tender closed on 16 April 2016, and on 27 May of that year, it was awarded to Simeka Group Pty Ltd/JV Regiments Capital Pty Ltd.

The joint venture had never tendered for this project.

On 28 March 2017, Mahoai approved the payment of $9 million (roughly R117 million) to the Simeka Group.

A disciplinary inquiry found that Mahoai, without the required Treasury Approval III (TAIII) from National Treasury, went ahead and signed the public-private partnership, an agreement that did not exist in the Public Finance Management Act, and approved the payment.