South Africa’s ambassador to France found dead at foot of Paris hotel tower

In this April 1, 2016 file photo, the French flag above the skyline of the French capital with the Eiffel Tower, The Invalides Dome and roof tops are seen from the colonnade of the Pantheon Dome in Paris. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

South Africa’s ambassador to France was found dead on Tuesday at the foot of the Hyatt Regency hotel, a high-rise tower in the west of Paris, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

Ambassador Nkosinathi Emmanuel “Nathi” Mthethwa had been reported missing by his wife on Monday evening after she received a text message from him that worried her, the prosecutor’s office said, confirming newspaper reports.

Mthethwa had booked a room on the 22nd floor, the prosecutor’s office said, adding that a secured window had been forced open. It said an investigation was ongoing and it could not preempt its outcome.

French media including Le Parisien said Mthethwa was believed to have killed himself, without citing a source.

South Africa’s foreign affairs department confirmed Mthethwa’s death, adding that the circumstances were under investigation by the French authorities.

“Ambassador Mthethwa was a distinguished servant of the nation, whose career was marked by dedicated service in critical ministerial portfolios,” the foreign affairs department said in a statement, calling his death “a national loss.”

The embassy’s website says Mthethwa was South Africa’s minister of arts and culture from 2014 to 2019, adding sport to his portfolio from 2019 to 2023.

(Reporting by Geert de Clercq, Nellie Peyton, Makini Brice, Charlotte Van Campenhout; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Richard Lough and Alison Williams)