By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Nathi Mthethwa’s brother-in-law Sifiso Buthelezi says he spoke to him about his name coming up in the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into criminality, political interference and corruption in the justice system and the former police minister assured him it was a non-issue.
Mthethwa was found dead at the foot of the Hyatt Regency hotel in the western part of the French capital on Tuesday morning, 30 September 2025.
He had been reported missing on Monday evening, after his wife said she received a worrying message from him “in which he apologized and expressed his intention to take his own life,” Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.
On Tuesday morning, a security guard at the Hyatt hotel discovered Mthethwa’s body in the inner courtyard, Beccuau said, adding an investigation has been opened.
Mthethwa had booked a room on the 22nd floor of the hotel, where the window’s safety mechanism had been forced open, Beccuau said. The statement said investigators found no signs of a struggle, nor traces of medication or illegal drugs.
During the Madlanga Inquiry, General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in his testimony accused Mthethwa of political interference. Mkhwanazi alleged that in 2021 Mthethwa forced former Inspector-General of Intelligence, Faith Radebe, to withdraw the criminal case against former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli.
Mdluli was accused of abuse of the police’s secret slush fund between 2008 and 2012, which included funding private trips and using police safe houses for personal use.
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika international correspondent, Simon Marks, Buthelezi says the late SA Ambassador to France had not received any form of communication from the Madlanga Inquiry.
Buthelezi says Mthethwa told him that he was not the prosecutor but the minister and it was not his responsibility to prosecute Mdluli.
He further explained that Mthethwa showed no signs of distress ahead of his sudden death. He also say it’s too early to conclude that he may have died in a form of suicide.
Buthelezi said they don’t know why Mthethwa booked into the hotel.
“There was no reason. When he left the residence, he said he was going to a meeting. In fact, Phili [Mthethwa’s wife] said I know the ambassador’s diary, and I don’t know this meeting that the ambassador is talking about.”
Buthelezi stated that Mthethwa called the hotel on 15 September to make a booking.
“He made the booking for the 27th and the 28th, for two days. But he later changed those days to the 29th, which is a Monday, which is the day on which the ambassador booked into that hotel, which is the day on which the ambassador passed on.”
He added, that the French authorities are still conducting a post-mortem, with repatriation expected to begin next week.
“The body is in the government mortuary (Paris). They must still do the autopsy. They said they think by Monday, at the latest, Tuesday, they’ll finish their processes, and they can hand the body over to us.”
Mthethwa was a high-ranking member of the African National Congress, the party that brought in democratic rule in 1994 with Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s first black president.
He had been serving as South Africa’s ambassador to Paris since December 2023, and had previously been in government as police minister and also arts and culture minister.