Nkosinathi Emmanuel “Nathi” Mthethwa was reported to have vanished last night, but local media have now reported a body has been found outside the famous Hyatt Hotel in Porte Maillot.
Mr Mthethwa is believed to have jumped from the 22nd floor of the four-star hotel, according to Le Parisien.
Local officials told the outlet Mr Mthethwa had sent “a worrying message from him in the evening” – the contents of which are yet to be revealed.
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The Paris Prosecutor’s office said: “His phone last rang around 3pm on Monday near the Bois de Boulogne in Paris (16th arrondissement). Fearing a possible suicide, the police, supported by the dog squad, had searched the woods in western Paris.”
Mr Mthethwa was named South Africa’s ambassador to France in 2024 and previously served as the Minister of Arts and Culture of the Republic of South Africa from May 2014 to 2019.
His death was called a “national loss” by South Africa’s foreign affairs department.
The department also said in a statement: “Ambassador Mthethwa was a distinguished servant of the nation, whose career was marked by dedicated service in critical ministerial portfolios.”
Mr Mthethwa has been a central figure in South African politics for more than two decades.
He was a senior member of the African National Congress and entered the National Assembly in the early 2000s going on to serve in a series of cabinet posts under successive presidents.
He was appointed Minister of Safety and Security in 2008, overseeing the police during a period of heightened concern about crime and public unrest, before moving to the arts portfolio in 2014.
Mthethwa later became South Africa’s first Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture in 2019, following the merger of the two departments.