From youth activist to ambassador — South Africa says goodbye to Nathi Mthethwa

‘Ambassador Mthethwa served his people and served his country. For this, we will forever remember him. And for his contribution, we thank him,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his eulogy on Sunday, 12 October. 

Nkosinathi Emmanuel “Nathi” Mthethwa died on Tuesday, 30 September. His body was found after he apparently fell from the 22nd floor of a Paris hotel. He had been reported missing a day before.

Read more: Nathi Mthethwa’s Paris death — French authorities say ‘no signs of struggle’ in 22nd floor hotel room

His death was preceded by allegations at the Madlanga Commission, which heard on 19 September from KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi that Mthethwa, when he was police minister in Jacob Zuma’s Cabinet, had pressured Zuma to reinstate disgraced Crime Intelligence head Richard Mdluli.

Read more: Nathi Mthethwa’s silent and untouchable hand behind illegal Zuma, State Capture prosecutions

The official funeral service took place on Sunday at the Siyabonga Sangweni Sports Complex in Dondotha, KwaZulu-Natal, after which Mthethwa was laid to rest at the family gravesite in KwaMbonambi, northern KZN.  

Speaking at the funeral, Ramaphosa remembered Mthethwa, who had been a student activist, then a shop steward and anti-apartheid activist. 

Mthethwa served as police minister during Zuma’s tenure from 2008 to 2014, and as minister of sport, arts and culture until 2023. 

In 2024, he was appointed ambassador to France until his death.

Ramaphosa said “the man we are laying to rest today was an unapologetic activist… from the earliest days of his activism, ambassador Nathi Mthethwa refused to accept the injustice of apartheid. Faced with laws that sought to divide, demean and destroy, he responded not with resignation, but with resolve.”

Mthethwa had “joined the anti-apartheid Struggle in the early 1980s when he was barely a teenager. Yet that youthful courage and that commitment saw him rise through the ranks to take up positions of leadership in the broader liberation movement… Following his brave role as a shop steward in the food industry and as an underground activist he was recruited and became involved in the dangerous and high-stakes President Tambo-initiated Operation Vula. This was a signal of the confidence and trust that his comrades had in him. It was also a sign of his political maturity and his courage.” 

Mthethwa became an ANC MP in 2002 and soon rose to the position of chief whip in the parliamentary caucus, before joining the Cabinet for about 15 years in various portfolios. 

The portfolios, Ramaphosa said, “carried great weight in the lives of our people: safety and security, policing, culture, sport and heritage. He saw public service not just as a position of power, but as a duty. He believed that the government must serve, uplift, protect and heal.”

‘ANC must reflect’

Touching on the ANC, Ramaphosa said: “Nathi remained loyal to ANC principles, even amid difficult terrains. His life invites reflection on how to renew the ANC’s moral centre – not through rhetoric, but through conduct… Loyalty to the movement must not mean silence in the face of wrongdoing. The ANC must reflect, renew and reclaim its mission in honour of those like him.”

The President continued: “In the end, to all of us, Nyambose’s [Mthethwa’s clan name] lesson to us is let your life speak. You are not entitled to a leadership position or any benefit. Organise, serve, endure and grow. You are not too small to shape history.”

During the service, ANC MP and former minister Malusi Gigaba spoke on behalf of Mthethwa’s friends. 

“When the news of Nyambose’s passing began circulating, we all mistook them for bad rumours that have become typical of social media these days,” Gigaba said in reference to the confusing circumstances of Mthethwa’s death. 

“Indeed, how could we suddenly accept that a man so full of life was gone. Even after official confirmation, it still felt unreal,” said Gigaba, who met Mthethwa when they were young activists in the South African Youth Congress and then the ANC Youth League in KZN. “From those early days, his dedication to the Struggle, political education and organisation was not only evident, but it was already unmatched. He worked tirelessly, both in the rebuilding of the ANCYL as well as in the political education of its members.” 

Gigaba added: “He was a serious and committed revolutionary as he was profoundly loyal as a friend. The bonds we forged during our early years in the Struggle have endured across decades, through both public service and personal milestones. But, it will always be as a leader and revolutionary that we shall always remember him.”

Gigaba said that when Mthethwa was promoted within the ANC – in Parliament as chief whip and then in government – it “came as no surprise to all of us who knew him”. 

But Mthethwa’s time in governance was not without controversy: as Daily Maverick reported, during his tenure as police minister he presided over one of the country’s darkest democratic moments, the 2012 Marikana Massacre, when 34 striking mineworkers were gunned down by the police. As reported at the time, Mthethwa “struggled to respond with the political accountability required”, while opposition parties accused him of ducking responsibility for the bloodshed. Calls for his resignation grew, but he remained in his post until 2014.

Read more: Marikana Commission: Mthethwa under fire

Later, as minister of sport, arts and culture, Mthethwa came under fire again, this time over the proposed R22-million “monumental flag” project, which he unveiled in 2022.  

Read more: A monumental waste of money — government’s R22m flag project flies into a storm of criticism

Speaking about Mthethwa’s ambassador role, Gigaba said: “He also took to his new role of ambassador with the expected zeal, an opportunity to fulfil his progressive internationalism. In every position he held, he carried out his duties with humility, singular mindedness and devotion, wearing every responsibility he was assigned with equal pride and devotion, always serving South Africa with integrity.” DM