Emmanuel Nkosinathi Mthethwa, 58, was reported missing by his wife yesterday, triggering a search which ended with the discovery of his body ‘right above’ the famous Hyatt Hotel in Paris
The South African ambassador to France sent his wife “a worrying message” before plunging 22 floors to his death from a hotel in Paris.
Emmanuel Nkosinathi Mthethwa, 58, vanished yesterday, triggering a search which ended with the discovery of his body “right above” the famous Hyatt Hotel in Porte Maillot. The alarm was raised by his wife Philisiwe Buthelezi, who reported him missing after she “indicated having received a worrying message from him in the evening,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
The diplomat “had booked a room on the 22nd floor, whose secure window was forced open.” The contents of Mthethwa’s message to his wife have not yet been revealed.
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Police have now launched an investigation into the matter, with a duty magistrate also “going to the scene”. According to initial evidence, the politician’s phone last pinged at around 3pm on Monday near the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. Officers originally sent dogs from the canine brigade, but the animals were unable to locate him there. “Fearing a possible suicide, the police, supported by the dog squad, had searched the woods in western Paris,” the Paris Proesecutor’s office said.
Mthethwa made one of his final public appearances at the 109th Anniversary of the Battle of Delville Wood marked in Longueval, Departement de la Somme, on Saturday.
He was posted to the French Embassy in February 2024, and was also South Africa’s permanent delegate to UNESCO. Mthethwa previously served as the Minister of Arts and Culture of the Republic of South Africa from May 2014 to 2019, before working as the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture between 2019 and 2023.
Between 2007 and 2022, he served as a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) – the party’s chief executive organ and highest decision-making body between conferences. During this time, the politician was a member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of South Africa’s governing party, which is responsible for the day-to-day running of the party and making recommendations to the NEC.
South African and French officials have not yet made any public comments on the incident. The South African embassy in Paris remained unreachable on Tuesday morning, Le Parisien reported.
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