There have been some changes in relation to the deployment of a SAPS delegation to France following the death of Ambassador Nathi Mthethwa.

On the sidelines of a Police Ministry event in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, National Commissioner Fannie Masemola said only one officer would be going to Paris, instead of a group of five, which the Ministry had originally announced.

The National SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, told media last week that the delegation would land in the country over the weekend and spend about a week in Paris. But Masemola said on Tuesday that the officer departed for Paris this week.

Speaking to the media, Masemola confirmed that the delegation was reduced, but that the one senior officer would be meeting with their counterparts in France.

“With regard to sending a delegation to France, we are working on a police-to-police cooperation and we do have a senior official that will be in that country. He will be leaving [on 7 October] and will update the nation in terms of the activities and his whereabouts once he’s there… He will report back when he comes back,” said Masemola.  

The Ministry announced last Friday that it will deploy a team of “five seasoned officers” from the SAPS to France, to collaborate with French authorities in its investigation into Mthethwa’s death.

“The deployed team will work closely with French law enforcement authorities to ensure that the circumstances surrounding Ambassador Mthethwa’s death are thoroughly and transparently investigated. This collaborative effort aims to support the ongoing inquest and uphold the principles of justice and accountability,” read the 3 October statement.

Masemola on Tuesday said the SAPS delegation would be receiving a report and would be taken through the investigation.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Mthethwa family, Sfiso Buthelezi, spoke to Newzroom Afrika in Paris, noting that the ambassador’s body is expected to be repatriated by the end of the week.

According to reports, Mthethwa’s family was granted permission on Monday to bring his body back home, following the finalisation of the post-mortem examination. The 58-year-old died outside a Paris hotel last week. The cause of his death has not yet been confirmed.

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“We can be able to go home on Thursday and arrive in South Africa on Friday. That’s something that we couldn’t do before because the body had not been released by the [French] government… So, we think that other processes by that time would be finished… We just can’t wait to take ambassador back home,” said Buthelezi.