{"id":382130,"date":"2026-08-17T11:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T11:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/382130\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T11:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T11:46:11","slug":"no-final-outcome-in-french-probe-into-nathi-mthethwas-death-cachalia-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/382130\/","title":{"rendered":"No final outcome in French probe into Nathi Mthethwa\u2019s death, Cachalia says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia<\/a> says no final outcome has been communicated on the French investigation into the death of South Africa\u2019s late ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa.<\/a><\/p>\n

Cachalia said the investigation was conducted by French authorities because Mthethwa died in France, while clarifying that the South African Police Service<\/a> (SAPS) did not deploy investigators to the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe investigation into the death of the late South African Ambassador to the French Republic was conducted by the French authorities, as the incident occurred within their jurisdiction. <\/p>\n

”At this stage, no final outcome has been communicated in respect of the investigation,\u201d Cachalia said.<\/p>\n

His response came after ActionSA Member of Parliament (MP) Dereleen James<\/a> asked the Acting Police Minister for the official outcome of the investigation and whether SAPS had sent a team to France to assist French authorities.<\/p>\n

Mthethwa, 58, was found dead after falling from the 22nd floor of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Paris on September 30, 2025.<\/p>\n

French authorities subsequently investigated the circumstances surrounding his death.<\/p>\n

At the time, SAPS said it would send investigators to France to assist with the probe.<\/p>\n

However, Cachalia\u2019s latest parliamentary response states that SAPS did not deploy investigators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe South African Police Service did not deploy any investigators to the French Republic in relation to this matter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Instead, two SAPS members were authorised to travel to France on a fact-finding mission and to facilitate cooperation with the French authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, two SAPS members were authorised to travel to the French Republic on a fact-finding mission and to facilitate cooperation and engagement with the relevant French authorities regarding the investigation,\u201d Cachalia said.<\/p>\n

The travel and related costs were administered through the Interpol budget.<\/p>\n

Cachalia said the estimated costs recorded in the memorandum, including an addendum, amounted to R164,812.17, while the actual cost of the trip for the two SAPS members was R124 227.71.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe actual costs for two members amounted to R 124,227.71,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The engagement between the South African and French authorities also resulted in an agreement to pursue a Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) process through the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe engagement between the South African and French authorities resulted in agreement that a process of Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) should be pursued through the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development,\u201d Cachalia said.<\/p>\n

At the time of Mthethwa\u2019s death, French authorities were investigating the circumstances surrounding his fall from the Paris hotel.<\/p>\n

[email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/p>\n

IOL News\u00a0<\/p>\n

Get your news on the go. Download the latest IOL App for\u00a0Android<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0IOS<\/a>\u00a0now<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia says no final outcome has been communicated on the French investigation into the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[52],"tags":[7399,1695,12837,35048,69908,23450,658,18216,10567,182932,22448,1696,182933,165010,133116,723,131,1689],"class_list":["post-382130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-south-africa","tag-actionsa","tag-android","tag-authorities","tag-department-of-justice-and-constitutional-development","tag-dereleen-james","tag-firoz-cachalia","tag-france","tag-french","tag-hope-ntanziiol-co-za","tag-hyatt-regency","tag-interpol","tag-ios","tag-mla","tag-mutual-legal-assistance","tag-nathi-mthethwa","tag-paris","tag-south-africa","tag-south-african-police-service"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/117110688291193620","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}