The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) is the foreign ministry of the South African government. It is responsible for South Africa's relationships with foreign countries and international organizations, and runs South Africa's diplomatic missions. The department is headed by the

Minister of International Relations and Cooperation The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation is the foreign minister of the Government of South Africa, South African government, with political responsibility for South Africa's Foreign relations of South Africa, foreign relations an ...

, currently Naledi Pandor. Formerly known as the Department of Foreign Affairs, it was renamed the Department of International Relations and Cooperation by President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

in May 2009. In the 2010 national budget, it received an appropriation of 4,824.4 million rand, and had 4,533 employees. According to OECD estimates, 2019 official development assistance from South Africa decreased to US$106 million. In 2022, when Cuba asked for humanitarian medical and food aid,

AfriForum AfriForum is a South African non-governmental organisation focused mainly on the interests of Afrikaners, a subgroup of the country's white population. AfriForum has been frequently described as a white nationalist, alt-right, and Afrikaner nation ...

managed to obtain an interdict against a pending R50 million payout by the department, labelling it "squandering of taxpayers' money". The chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation,

Supra Mahumapelo Supra Obakeng Ramoeletsi Mahumapelo is a South African politician and musician. He served as the Provincial Secretary of the African National Congress North West Provincial Leadership from 2011 until August 2018. He previously served as Speaker ...

, decried the ruling due to its believed impact on South Africa's solidarity work with countries like Cuba.

References

External links

Official website

Foreign affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

Foreign relations of South Africa South Africa {{SouthAfrica-gov-stub