Nathi Mthethwa’s Final Message To Wife Revealed By Paris Authorities

South Africa’s ambassador to France, Nkosinathi Emmanuel “Nathi” Mthethwa, was discovered dead on Tuesday at the Hyatt hotel in Paris.

The 58-year-old, a former cabinet minister and close ally of ex-president Jacob Zuma, was found in the hotel’s interior courtyard. French authorities are treating the case as a potential suicide, the Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed.

Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said Mthethwa had booked a room on the 22nd floor, where a secured window was reportedly forced open using scissors found at the scene.

“Initial investigations suggest that this could have been a deliberate act, without the intervention of a third party,” Beccuau said, while noting that all details would continue to be examined.

Nathi’s Final Message to Family Highlights Distress

According to Beccuau, Mthethwa’s wife last saw him on Monday afternoon before he was expected to attend a cocktail event. Later that evening, she received a message from him in which he apologised and “expressed his intention to end his life.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa described the death as “untimely” and “a moment of deep grief in which government and citizens stand beside the Mthethwa family.” He added, “Ambassador Mthethwa has served our nation in diverse capacities during a lifetime that has ended prematurely and traumatically.”

A Lifetime of Public Service and Political Roles

Mthethwa had been South Africa’s ambassador to France since December 2023. His political career included serving as culture minister from 2014 to 2019, followed by a tenure as minister of sports, arts, and culture until 2023.

Earlier, he held roles as police minister from 2009 to 2014 and as security minister from 2008 to 2009.

He also played a key role in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, serving on the local organising committee’s board of directors, and was active in the African National Congress (ANC) between 2007 and 2022.

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During apartheid, Mthethwa was part of the ANC’s military wing and was arrested in 1989 during the state of emergency.

A ministerial statement from South Africa confirmed that French authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.

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