SA’s ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, dies in Paris hotel fall
PARIS – South Africa’s Ambassador to France, Nkosinathi Emmanuel “Nathi” Mthethwa, has died after falling from the 22nd floor of the Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile, sending shockwaves through diplomatic and political circles.
The 58-year-old former minister’s death comes just days after he was publicly implicated in a major political interference scandal at the Madlanga Commission.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that Mthethwa’s body was discovered on Tuesday “right above the Hyatt Hotel” at Porte Maillot, about 24 hours after he was reported missing. According to their statement, “He had booked a room on the 22nd floor, whose secure window was forced open.”
The search for the ambassador began after his wife, Philisiwe Buthelezi, reported him missing. The prosecutor’s office stated she “indicated having received a worrying message from him in the evening,” though the contents have not been made public. Initial evidence showed Mthethwa’s phone last connected around 3pm on Monday near the Bois de Boulogne park.
“Fearing a possible suicide, the police, supported by the dog squad, had searched the woods in western Paris,” the prosecutor’s office said, before his body was found at the hotel.
Mthethwa, who was also South Africa’s Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, had a long and prominent political career. Before his ambassadorial appointment in February 2024, he served as a minister in various portfolios, including as the former arts and culture minister where he laid out key international plans.
His death arrives amid a firestorm of allegations back in South Africa. Just last week, former acting national police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi testified at the Madlanga Commission, alleging that Mthethwa, while police minister in 2011, was responsible for “the worst political interference” he had ever experienced.
The Mkhwanazi bombshell testimony claimed Mthethwa forced the former Inspector-General of Intelligence to withdraw a criminal case against ex-Crime Intelligence head Richard Mdluli. “It cannot be that I allowed the Mdluli era, the minister Mthethwa era, under former president [Jacob] Zuma to happen like that, and it’s happening again now, and I keep quiet,” Mkhwanazi stated.
An investigation has been launched by the Brigade for the Suppression of Crimes Against Persons (BRDP) of the Paris judicial police. A duty magistrate has been dispatched to the scene, and Mthethwa’s relatives have been questioned. South African and French officials have yet to make formal public statements on the incident.
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