The death of SA Ambassador to France, Nathi Mthetwa, a former South African minister and, initially ruled a suicide after he was found at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Paris has taken new twist .
Leaked documents and forensic findings from within the French investigative team suggest that his death was a murder and not a suicide.
- French authorities initially claimed the message was a “worrying text message to his wife, an apology, an expression of his intention to end his life”.
- However, the video states that a leaked document from the French investigative team contains the “full unedited transcript and metadata” of the communication.
- According to the video, this leaked transcript reveals a “far more ambiguous and frantic message” that sounded “less like a goodbye and more like an SOS”.
- The metadata analysis of the timestamps and location data reportedly showed that the message was not sent from the hotel room, but from a location several blocks away.
- The new detail is a “complete game changer” because it indicates a third party was involved and that the message was possibly pre-prepared and sent by someone else to create a false suicide narrative.
- Foreign DNA: Crucially, non-Mthethwa DNA was found under the window and on the scissors, transforming the case into a high-profile murder investigation.
Mthethwa’s death was possibly a targeted assassination, potentially to silence him as he was a “custodian of secrets” that could have exposed powerful figures involved in South African corruption and state capture as he may have been considering becoming a state witness or leaking documents.
Mthethwa’s presence at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, away from his official residence, is one of the most suspicious aspects of the case. While the initial official reports don’t provide a reason for his stay at the hotel, the “potential witness” theory fits within its larger narrative of a targeted assassination.
Sources suggest that Mthethwa was at the hotel for a “pre-arranged meeting, a desperate handover, or perhaps a final trap set by those closest to him”. This is a crucial detail because it moves the narrative away from a random, private act of desperation to a meticulously planned operation. The fact that the hotel booking was made 10 days in advance is also highlighted as evidence of a premeditated plan.
Timeline of Mthethwa’s appointment to France and the events surrounding his death.
- December 2023: Mthethwa is appointed as South Africa’s Ambassador to the French Republic and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO. This is seen by some as an “elegant exile” from the domestic political storm in South Africa.
- February 2024: He officially takes up his diplomatic posting in Paris.
- Saturday, September 28, 2025: Mthethwa makes one of his last public appearances at the 109th anniversary of the Battle of Delville Wood in France.
- Monday afternoon, September 29, 2025: He books himself into a room on the 22nd floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, an establishment in which he had reportedly reserved a room around 10 days earlier.
- Monday evening, September 29, 2025:
- His wife, Philisiwe Buthelezi, receives a “worrying” text message from him.
- She reports him missing to the authorities.
- Police begin a search, and his phone’s last signal is traced to a park in western Paris.
- Tuesday morning, September 30, 2025:
- A security guard discovers Mthethwa’s body in the hotel’s inner courtyard, beneath the tower where his room was located.
- French authorities begin an investigation, and an initial report from the Paris prosecutor’s office suggests a suicide, noting that a secured window in his room was forced open with scissors found at the scene.
- October 2025: Leaked internal documents and forensic findings allegedly emerge, suggesting that the initial conclusion of suicide is flawed. These leaks cite the ambiguous nature of the text message, the inconsistent force used on the window, and the presence of foreign DNA at the scene.
