News Update

Nkosinathi Mthethwa, South Africa’s ambassador to France has been found dead at the Hyatt Regency hotel, a high-rise tower in Porte Maillot in the west of Paris.

According to newspapers Le Parisien and Le Figaro, Mthethwa’s corpse was found after his wife raised the alarm that he was missing.

The wife was said to have spoken out after she received a text message from him that worried her.

Reuters quoted a spokesperson at South Africa’s foreign affairs department as saying they were “aware of unfortunate reports pertaining to Ambassador Nathi Mthethwa” and would issue a statement once there was official information.

But a spokesperson for Paris Police declined to comment, according to the agency which added that calls to the South African Embassy went unanswered and that a receptionist at the Hyatt said the hotel would not comment.

According to the deceased profile on the embassy’s website, he was Minister of Arts and Culture from 2014 to 2019, and became Minister of Sports from 2019 to 2023.