South African ambassador to France found dead in Paris Updated

Nkosinathi Emmanuel Mthethwa, South Africa’s ambassador to France, has been found dead in central Paris, authorities confirmed on September 30. 

The 58-year-old diplomat’s body was discovered beneath the Hyatt Hotel near Porte Maillot in the 17th arrondissement, Caliber.Az reports, citing French media.

Preliminary reports indicate he may have fallen from the hotel’s 22nd floor.

Mthethwa had been reported missing on September 29 by his wife, who said she had received a “worrying message” from him the previous evening. His mobile phone was last traced to the Bois de Boulogne, prompting a police search of the area, including support from a canine unit, amid fears of a possible suicide.

An investigation has been opened and is being conducted by the Paris judicial police’s Brigade for the Suppression of Personal Crime. A magistrate is on site, the prosecutor’s office said. The South African embassy in Paris was unreachable on the morning of September 30.

14:20

South Africa’s ambassador to France, Nkosinathi Emmanuel Mthethwa, has been reported missing after he vanished in the French capital on the afternoon of September 29, according to information obtained by Actu17.

The 58-year-old diplomat remained unaccounted for on the morning of September 30 as police worked to clarify the circumstances of his disappearance.

The incident was first noticed around 3 p.m. local time, but security officers assigned to the ambassador did not notify police until later in the day, sources familiar with the case said. An investigation has since been launched, and several of Mthethwa’s close associates have been interviewed by law enforcement.

Mthethwa, who previously served as South Africa’s Minister of Police, was last traced through his mobile phone in the 16th arrondissement, near the Bois de Boulogne, according to officials briefed on the matter. Investigators are examining multiple lines of inquiry, though no further details have been released.

The Paris prosecutor’s office has so far declined to comment.

Mthethwa’s disappearance comes as a shock within diplomatic circles in Paris, where he has represented Pretoria since his appointment to the post. French and South African authorities are expected to remain in close contact as the search intensifies.

By Aghakazim Guliyev