Nkosinathi Emmanuel Mthethwa, South Africa’s ambassador to France, was found dead in the courtyard of a Paris hotel on Tuesday morning, with French authorities investigating the death as a possible suicide.
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The 58-year-old diplomat’s body was discovered shortly after 11 a.m. by a security guard at the Hyatt Regency hotel on the western edge of the French capital, according to Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau.
Ms. Beccuau said in a statement that Mr. Mthethwa had booked a room on the 22nd floor of the hotel over a week ago. The window of the room had been forced open with scissors that were left at the scene, she said.
The ambassador’s wife reported him missing to police on Monday evening after receiving a message from him “in which he apologised to her and expressed the intention to end his life,” Ms. Beccuau said.
“While initial investigations suggest that this may have been a deliberate act, without the involvement of a third party, the purpose of this investigation is to gather any information that may be useful in understanding what happened,” the prosecutor said.
No signs of a struggle were found at the scene, and there was no evidence that drugs or medication had been involved, Ms. Beccuau said in her statement.
South Africa’s foreign ministry confirmed the death and said the circumstances remained under investigation.
“I have no doubt that his passing is not only a national loss, but is also felt within the international diplomatic community,” South Africa’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, said in a statement.
Mr. Mthethwa was appointed ambassador to France in 2023 and began the role the following year. He had been a senior figure within the African National Congress, South Africa’s governing party.
His political involvement began at age 15 when he joined a youth organisation that fought against South Africa’s apartheid regime. He was subsequently recruited into the underground movement of the A.N.C., which had been declared illegal by the white-minority government.
Following the end of apartheid in 1994, Mr. Mthethwa advanced through his party and government positions. He served on the A.N.C.’s national executive committee, its highest decision-making body, and held ministerial positions for police and for sport, arts and culture before his Paris appointment.
The foreign ministry said Mr. Mthethwa is survived by his wife and children.
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