South African Ambassador to France, Nkosinathi Mthethwa, 58, was found dead in a hotel after his wife raised concerns; meanwhile French Police have launched an inquiry.
South Africa’s ambassador to France, Nkosinathi Mthethwa, has died in Paris under circumstances that French authorities are now investigating.
The 58-year-old diplomat was found at a luxury hotel in the French capital late Monday, according to local media reports. Le Parisien, citing police sources, said Mthethwa is believed to have fallen from the 22nd floor of the Hyatt hotel.
French prosecutors confirmed that an investigation has been opened by the Brigade for the Repression of Personal Crime, part of the Paris judicial police. Officials have not released an official cause of death.
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The ambassador’s wife alerted authorities after receiving what prosecutors described as a “worrying message” from him earlier that evening. His mobile phone was last traced near the Bois de Boulogne, a large public park in the 16th arrondissement, around 3 p.m. local time.
Mthethwa had been posted to Paris in February, representing South Africa both as ambassador and as the country’s permanent delegate to UNESCO. His tenure, though brief, placed him at the center of South Africa’s diplomatic engagement with France and international cultural institutions.
Before his diplomatic appointment, Mthethwa held several senior roles in South Africa’s government. He served as minister of sports, arts and culture, as well as minister of police, and earlier as minister of safety and security. From 2004 to 2008, he chaired the parliamentary committee on mines and energy, a period that shaped much of South Africa’s debate on energy policy.
News of his death has drawn shock in both Paris and Pretoria. South Africa’s foreign ministry has not yet issued a public statement, but government officials confirmed that they are in contact with French authorities and the ambassador’s family.
Diplomatic colleagues in Paris described Mthethwa as an experienced and steady presence in South Africa’s foreign service, with decades of political experience behind him.
For France, the sudden loss of an ambassador marks a rare and somber moment in the tightly knit diplomatic community of Paris, home to one of the world’s largest clusters of foreign embassies.
As investigators continue to examine the circumstances, tributes are expected in both South Africa and France, where Mthethwa had only recently begun his diplomatic mission.
