The best South Africa diplomat in France found dead near the Paris Hotel

South Africa’s ambassador to France, Posta, was found dead near the four -star Hyatt Regency Hotel in Paris, French officials told the BBC.

The 58 -year -old MThethwa was reported to have disappeared by his wife on Monday night after a “anxious message from him,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

He had booked a room on the 22nd floor of the High Rise Hotel, whose security window was forced open, he added.

At this stage, the circumstances surrounding his death are unclear and an investigation has been opened, the prosecutor’s office of Paris said, adding that a magistrate on duty is going to the scene.

Matethwa was a senior member of the African National Congress, the party, which introduced a democratic rule in 1994 with Nelson Mandela as the first black president in South Africa.

He has been an ambassador of South Africa to Paris since December 2023 and has previously been in the government as Minister of Police and also Minister of Arts and Culture.

He was a close ally of former President Jacob Zuma and was involved in what was known in South Africa as an investigation into the state, which views allegations of high -level corruption during the Zuma Presidency.

In a statement, South Africa Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola welcomed Mthethwa as a “excellent servant of the nation”.

“I have no doubt that its passage is not only a national loss, but it is also felt within the international diplomatic community,” he added.

Lamola confirmed that the circumstances surrounding Mttev’s death were investigated by the French authorities.