South Africa’s ambassador to France has been found dead at a hotel in Paris, according to local media.
Nathi Mthethwa, a former Minister of Police was reported missing by his wife who said she received a “worrying message from him in the evening.”
Details of the evidence are not readily known, but the Paris Prosecutor’s office says initial evidence suggested his “phone last rang around 3 p.m. on Monday near the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.”
Mthethwa, 58, is suspected to have jumped from the 22nd floor of the 4-star hotel after his body was found “right above the Hyatt Hotel” according to Paris Newspaper, Le Parisien.
Before his appointment in February 2024, Mthethwa served as Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture and was also South Africa’s UNESCO permanent delegate.
Local media reports that he was scheduled to testify in the ongoing high profile police inquiry case in South Africa, the Madlanga Commission.
In a statement, South Africa’s International Affairs Ministry said French authorities are investigating the circumstances of the “untimely death.”
