The death of former Minister and SA’s Ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, has caused shockwaves through South Africa, especially after it emerged that he reportedly told his wife he intended to die by suicide.

In a statement, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office revealed that Mthethwa’s wife, Philisiwe Buthelezi, reported her husband missing on Monday, 29 September. It said she received a message from him in which he apologised and expressed an intent to die by suicide.

“She stated that she last saw her husband shortly before 16:30 as he was supposed to attend a cocktail event and then received a message from him shortly after 21:30 in which he apologised and expressed an intent to end his life.”

On 30 September, around 11:10, a security guard at the Hyatt Hotel found his lifeless body in the interior courtyard of the hotel.

Prosecutors say Mthethwa had booked a room on the 22nd floor, where a secured window had been forced open. Scissors were found at the scene.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau says initial investigations indicate a deliberate act, with no signs of third-party involvement.

Two weeks before his death, Mthethwa was accused of political interference in policing matters.

During his testimony, KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in Pretoria that Mthethwa, while serving as police minister in 2011, pressured him to stop criminal and disciplinary proceedings against former Crime Intelligence head Richard Mdluli.

Mdluli faced allegations of misusing the unit’s secret slush fund. Mkhwanazi said Mthethwa accused him of influencing the inspector-general of intelligence to push for prosecution, and then ordered him to halt the case.

Calling it “the worst political interference” he had ever experienced, Mkhwanazi testified that he later stepped down as acting national commissioner after clashing with Mthethwa.