WAS NATHI MTHETHWA KILLED? FAMILY REJECTS SUICIDE CLAIMS

"He was not afraid of any Commission. He was a fighter. Something happened to him, and we want the truth," said his brother

- SIFISO MAHLANGU AND WILLEM PHUNGULA

FORMER Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa officially hands over the Winnie-Madikizela Mandela Museum in Majwemasweu Township, Free State province, in this 2022 file photo. I JAMES MATHIBENG

(JAMES MATHIBENG)

THE sudden death of South Africa's Ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, has shocked the nation and ignited a wave of questions. Official reports suggest suicide, but his family is firmly rejecting that conclusion - insisting the former minister would never have taken his own life.

Mthethwa, 58, was found dead on the morning of Tuesday, September 30, after falling from the 22nd floor of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Paris. French authorities are investigating the circumstances and say no possibilities, including foul play, are being ruled out. The family, however, is already convinced: something is wrong.

"We are not accepting this," said his brother, Khulekani Mthethwa, speaking from the family home in KwaMbonambi, KwaZulu-Natal.

"My brother endured the worst the apartheid system could do to him. He was tortured. He never backed down. Why would a man like that choose to die now?"

According to Khulekani, Nathi had shown no signs of despair or fear, despite being linked days earlier to testimony before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. "He was not afraid of facing the Commission.