'My brother would not have feared the Madlanga Commission': Family rejects suicide reports for Nathi Mthethwa

The family of the South African Ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, who died after falling from the 22nd floor of a Paris hotel on Tuesday, has rejected claims suggesting that he committed suicide.

The family said that Mthethwa, 58, had endured torture at the hands of the Apartheid police machinery and would never take his own life to avoid accountability for his alleged interference in the work of the police as revealed in the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.

They have called for a full investigation by French police and South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperations into the circumstances leading to his death.

Speaking to the media at the Mthethwa’s home in KwaMbonambi, outside Empangeni in KwaZulu-Natal, his relative Khulekani Mthethwa, said the family was not buying the reports of a potential suicide, saying there were mysterious circumstances leading to the Ambassador's death.

Khulekani said the family wanted to know where Mthethwa's security detail  was from the time he was missing until his death. 

He said that Mthethwa was a brave man who 'endured torture and all forms of  brutality at the hands of the Apartheid police, therefore there was no way that he would taken his own life'.

“My brother would not have feared appearing in front of the Madlanga Commission to answer for any allegations against him. He was not a coward, as the family we dismiss any suggestion that he took his life to avoid going to the Commission. All we are calling for is a thorough investigation of the mysterious circumstances around his death, especially as had security,” said Khulekani.

He said that he had spoken to Mthethwa twice on Monday, however, he refused to divulge the details of their conversation.

Mthethwa, a former Police and Sports, Arts and Culture Minister was found dead at the Hyatt Hotel in Porte Maillot in Paris on Tuesday after he went missing on Monday - he is believed to have died in tragic circumstances after falling from the 22nd floor of the hotel. 

President Cyril Ramaphosa said that as ambassador, Mthethwa facilitated the deepening of relations between South Africa and France, producing benefits for people and businesses in both countries.

"The untimely passing of Ambassador Nathi Mthethwa is a moment of deep grief in which government and citizens stand beside the Mthethwa family," said Ramaphosa.

The ANC described Mthethwa as a dedicated freedom fighter and public servant.

"Comrade Mthethwa was not merely a public official; he was a committed cadre of the liberation struggle and a dedicated servant of the people in our democratic era. His life was one of both struggle and service."

Although the Madlanga commission had not yet confirmed whether he was on the list of those expected to give testimony, Mthethwa was expected to be given a right of reply after he was mentioned in testimony by KwaZulu-Natal provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

Mkhwanazi told the commission that during his tenure as an acting national Police Commissioner in 2011, Mthethwa in his capacity as a Police Minister attempted to block the prosecution of the then police Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli. 

Mdluli was accused of abuse of state resources and corruption involving the Crime Intelligence Unit’s slush funds. According to Mkhwanazi, Mthethwa also ordered him to stop taking disciplinary action against Mdluli - Mkhwanazi described this as interference in the work of the police.

Mdluli and his co-accused pleaded not guilty during the start of their corruption trial in the Pretoria High Court in May.

Mdluli, together with the former South African Police Service (SAPS ) Supply Chain Manager Heine Barnard and Chief Financial Officer, Solomon Lazarus, are facing charges of corruption, fraud and theft relating to the police’s secret slush fund from the time they were employed by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Crime Intelligence Unit, between 2008 and 2012.

Mthethwa, who was born and raised in Klaarwater township, west of Durban, was appointed as an Ambassador to France in December 2023 after he was dropped as a Minister by President Cyril Ramaphosa in a cabinet reshuffle. At the time, he was the Sports, Arts and Culture Minister.

willem.phungula@inl.co.za