South Africa’s ambassador to France, Nkosinathi Mthethwa, has been found dead in Paris in what French authorities describe as a suspected suicide.

According to French daily Le Parisien, the 58-year-old diplomat is believed to have jumped from the 22nd floor of the Hyatt Hotel in the French capital. The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that Mthethwa’s wife had alerted authorities after receiving a “worrying message” from him on Monday evening.

His phone was last detected around 3 p.m. near the Bois de Boulogne, in Paris’s 16th arrondissement, before the discovery of his body.

Mthethwa had been serving as South Africa’s envoy to France since February and also acted as the country’s permanent delegate to UNESCO. His diplomatic assignment followed an extensive political career in South Africa, where he held several cabinet portfolios, including Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Minister of Police, and Minister of Safety and Security. He also chaired the parliamentary committee on mines and energy between 2004 and 2008.

The Brigade for the Repression of Personal Crime (BRDP) of the Paris judicial police has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.

Mthethwa’s passing marks a tragic loss for South Africa’s diplomatic corps and political community.

Melissa Enoch

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