Paris, death destination of ambassadors past and present

Last week, as Spring dawned, the 5am news bulletin stopped me mid-step en route to my first cup of piping hot coffee.

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Painful questions remain: Former minister and ambassador to France Nathi Mthethwa's funeral in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday brought top government and ANC officials together, but questions around the cause of his death hung in the air.

(GCIS)

The headline was devastating: South Africa's ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, had died under tragic and mysterious circumstances in Paris.

Only days earlier, he had presented his credentials to the principality of Monaco, home to Princess Charlene, South Africa’s Olympic swimming champion. Now, he was gone — his body found in the courtyard of the Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile, reportedly, he plunged to his death.

The shock reverberated across South Africa. Mthethwa, a former minister of police, and of sports and arts and culture, was a prominent figure in the ANC and a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle.

His death, suspected to be suicide, raised painful questions: Why are our liberation-era leaders — those who fought for justice and dignity - dying in such tragic solitude?

The parallels are haunting: During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, ANC minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson was found dead at her Rondebosch home in June 2023. Her passing followed allegations of extortion involving a R600 000 bribe linked to the Section 194 Inquiry into suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane. In her final interview, Joemat-Pettersson reportedly said, “I have no life and no future,” a chilling expression of emotional distress. Her death remains under investigation, but the shadow of suicide looms large.