FRANCE – South Africa’s Ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, has died in Paris. This was confirmed by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).
“The Government of the Republic of South Africa announces with deep sorrow and profound regret the untimely passing of His Excellency Ambassador Nkosinathi Emmanuel Mthethwa, South Africa’s Ambassador to the French Republic.”
According to a French publication Le Parisien, the former Police minister was last seen on Monday afternoon.
It reported that his body had been found yesterday, and it was believed that he had jumped from the 22nd floor of a four-star hotel in the city.
He had booked a room on the floor, ‘whose secure window was forced open’, UK publication The Mirror reported, citing the Paris Prosecutor’s Office.
The Prosecutor’s Office said Mthethwa’s wife “received a worrying message from him” on Monday evening.
She alerted authorities, who sparked a frantic search of the woods in western Paris.
One of his last public appearances was at the 109th Anniversary of the Battle of Delville Wood marked in Longueval, Département de la Somme, France on Saturday. There, he laid a wreath at the tomb of Private Beleza Myengwa, a South African Labour Corps soldier from World War 1, at the nearby Delville Wood South African National Memorial.
An ANC veteran who spoke to The Citizen said they were in shock and did not believe that Mthethwa would have taken his own life. The party said it would comment in due time.
“I have no doubt that his passing is not only a national loss, but is also felt within the international diplomatic community,” said international relations minister Ronald Lamola.
Mthethwa was appointed to the French Embassy in February last year. He served as the Minister of Arts and Culture from 2014 to 2019 and Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture from 2019 to 2023. He was the Minister of Police from 2009 to 2014.
Between 2007 and 2022, he served as a member of the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) and National Working Committee (NWC).
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