The South African ambassador to France, Nkosinathi Mthethwa, has been found dead at a hotel in Paris under circumstances that have triggered a police investigation.
French newspaper Le Parisien reported that the 58-year-old diplomat was believed to have jumped from the 22nd floor of the Hyatt Hotel.
According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, Mthethwa’s wife had raised alarm after receiving a “worrying message from him” on Monday evening. His phone was last detected around 3 p.m. near the Bois de Boulogne, in the city’s 16th arrondissement.
Mthethwa, who was appointed South Africa’s envoy to France in February 2025, also doubled as the country’s permanent delegate to UNESCO.
Before his diplomatic posting, Mthethwa held several senior government positions in South Africa, including Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Minister of Police, and Minister of Safety and Security. Between 2004 and 2008, he also chaired the parliamentary committee on mines and energy.
The Brigade for the Repression of Personal Crime (BRDP) of the Paris judicial police has opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.
