PARIS, France – South Africa’s ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, was found dead on Tuesday outside a hotel in Paris in circumstances that French prosecutors say are under investigation.
Mthethwa, 58, was discovered near the hotel building after the secured window of his 22nd-floor room had been forced open, the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP. His body was found “directly by the hotel,” the office added.
A source close to the case said Mthethwa had been battling depression, raising the possibility that his death may have been a suicide.
Mthethwa, a veteran politician and close ally of former president Jacob Zuma, had been serving as South Africa’s ambassador in Paris since December 2023.
His wife reported him missing on Monday after receiving a troubling message from him in the evening, prosecutors said.
French authorities have launched a full investigation into what they described as “the untimely death” of the diplomat.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called the news devastating.
“This is a moment of deep grief in which government and citizens stand beside the Mthethwa family,” Ramaphosa said. “Ambassador Mthethwa has served our nation in diverse capacities during a lifetime that has ended prematurely and traumatically.”
Before his diplomatic posting, Mthethwa had a long political career in the African National Congress (ANC), holding several cabinet positions.
He was South Africa’s police minister from 2009 to 2014, arts and culture minister from 2014 to 2019, and later sports, arts and culture minister until 2023.
He also sat on the board of the local organising committee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was active in the ANC’s underground military wing during apartheid, enduring arrest during the 1989 state of emergency.
Mthethwa is survived by his wife and children.
