South Africa's ambassador to France Nkosinathi Emmanuel Mthethwa was found dead on Tuesday outside the Hyatt Regency hotel, a high-rise tower in the west of Paris, after the window of his room was forced open, prosecutors said.
Ambassador Nkosinathi Emmanuel "Nathi" Mthethwa had been reported missing by his wife on Monday evening after she received a text message from him that worried her, the prosecutor's office said.
The 58-year-old had booked a room on the 22nd floor, according to the prosecutors, and a secured window had been forced open. The body of Mthethwa, a close associate of former South African president Jacob Zuma, was found "directly by the hotel", it added.
South Africa to examine past failures to prosecute apartheid crimes
'Untimely death'
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called his death "untimely" and "a moment of deep grief in which government and citizens stand beside the Mthethwa family".
"Ambassador Mthethwa has served our nation in diverse capacities during a lifetime that has ended prematurely and traumatically," he said.
In a statement released in Pretoria, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said he had "no doubt that his passing is not only a national loss but is also felt within the international diplomatic community".
The circumstances of "his untimely death" are under investigation by the French authorities, the statement confirmed.
A source close to the case, who asked not to be named, said the ambassador suffered from depression and his death could have been suicide.
Mthethwa had been ambassador since December 2023. He served as minister of arts and culture of South Africa from 2014 to 2019, and then of sports, arts and culture until 2023, according to his embassy website.
He was also police minister from 2009 to 2014 and security minister from 2008 to 2009.
Mthethwa also served on the board of directors of the 2010 football World Cup local organising committee.
South Africa hits back at US over ‘flawed’ rights report and land grab claims
Between 2007 and 2022, he was a senior official in the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party since the first post-apartheid democratic elections in 1994.
He worked underground within the ANC's military wing during apartheid and was notably arrested during the state of emergency in 1989.
(with AFP)
