SA ambassador to France Nathi Mthethwa to receive official funeral

President Cyril Ramaphosa has reportedly accorded an official funeral to South African Ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa.

This is according to reports from Wednesday afternoon regarding the funeral of the former Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture.

Mthethwa died after falling from a 22nd-floor hotel room in Paris last week.

French authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.

Mthethwa, 58, was found at the foot of the Hyatt Regency hotel in western Paris, having reportedly fallen from the 22nd floor.

His body is expected to arrive at OR Tambo International Airport on Friday.

He will be buried on Sunday in his hometown of KwaMthethwa, KwaZulu-Natal.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola confirmed that the team of investigators that was supposed to travel to France to assist in probing the death of Mthethwa has been reduced from five to just one officer.

Speaking on the sidelines of the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Safer Festive Season operations launch in Bloemfontein, Free State, Masemola said a single senior officer would now be deployed to liaise with French counterparts.

“With regard to sending a delegation to France, we are working on a police-to-police cooperation. We do have a senior officer that is working in that country,” he said.

Masemola confirmed the investigator would depart the country on Tuesday.

“He will be leaving today. They will update the mission in terms of the activities and whereabouts once he is there,” he said.

Masemola added that the initial delegation had been reduced from five to one.

“But we reduced our delegation. We have one senior officer that will be meeting our counterparts in France,” he said.

The top cop clarified that the officer’s role is not to conduct a formal investigation, but rather to receive a report directly from French authorities.

“Its unlike they will send you a report and leave it from here. We take it as very important that the late ambassador was representing South Africa in that country, and was representing the president of this country. When such incidents happen, it is our responsibility to make sure that we liaise with our counterparts,” said Masemola.

He emphasised that the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) was already involved and that SAPS’s presence in France would be limited.

“We are just going there to receive a first-hand report. And, of course, ask questions and be taken through certain things. From there, we’ll be coming back to the problem. That was appropriate in my view.”

Masemola said the South African public deserved assurance that when a citizen dies overseas - particularly one representing the president - it is treated with urgency and transparency.

“A former minister of police - I think it was appropriate to take these steps to give the public and the family the assurance that we have been proactive. As far as I understand, it is fairly routine for police services in different jurisdictions to cooperate in such circumstances. And that’s all that has happened here,” he said.

simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za

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