South Africa’s ambassador to France, Nkosinathi Emmanuel “Nathi” Mthethwa, 58, was found dead Tuesday at a Paris hotel in what French authorities are treating as a possible suicide. The veteran diplomat and longtime cabinet minister was a prominent figure in South African politics and a close associate of former President Jacob Zuma.
According to Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau, Mthethwa’s body was discovered in the interior courtyard of the upscale Hyatt hotel where he had reserved a room on the 22nd floor. A secured window in his room had been forced open with a pair of scissors found at the scene. His wife last saw him Monday afternoon before he was due to attend a cocktail event. That evening, she received a message in which he apologized and indicated his intent to end his life.
Beccuau stated that initial investigations suggest “a deliberate act, without the intervention of a third party,” but emphasized that authorities are collecting all available evidence. French investigators are continuing to examine the circumstances surrounding the death.
Mthethwa had been serving as South Africa’s ambassador to France since December 2023. President Cyril Ramaphosa described his death as “untimely” and a moment of “deep grief” for the government and citizens of South Africa. “Ambassador Mthethwa has served our nation in diverse capacities during a lifetime that has ended prematurely and traumatically,” Ramaphosa said in a statement.
Before his diplomatic posting, Mthethwa held several senior government positions. He served as minister of arts and culture from 2014 to 2019, and as minister of sports, arts, and culture until 2023. Earlier, he was South Africa’s police minister from 2009 to 2014 and security minister from 2008 to 2009. Mthethwa also sat on the board of the 2010 FIFA World Cup local organizing committee and was a senior official of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) from 2007 to 2022.
A veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle, Mthethwa worked underground within the ANC’s military wing and was arrested during the 1989 state of emergency. His passing marks the loss of one of South Africa’s most experienced public servants.
