[3] While waiting for the South African beneplacito, Moreno de Caro caused controversy accusing the Colombian Chancillery of deliberately delaying his approval to try to sabotage his appointment going so far as storming into the Chancellery getting in trouble with the security personnel and yelling at the Deputy Chancellor Camilo Reyes Rodríguez, who would be his future boss.

The incident followed Moreno de Caro's attempt to enlist in his diplomatic entourage a group of unusual diplomats which included former Miss Colombia Vanessa Mendoza, former football stars Faustino Asprilla and Carlos Valderrama, and two demobilized former guerilla members to assist him in his mission abroad, however as Ambassador he would only had the power to appoint two members out of the four-person team he would be assigned, his request was ultimately not approved.

After the heated waiting period, the beneplacito was received by the Chancellery and Moreno de Caro was sworn in by President Uribe as Ambassador to South Africa on February 26, 2007.

During his ambassadorship, the South African government expressed interest in implementing a bus rapid transit system modeled after Bogota's TransMilenio in many of its big cities in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup that would be held in that country.

[9] Forceful Moreno insisted in submitting a weekly personal report directly to President Uribe to subdue the animosity and lack of public expectations in his appointment as ambassador.