Click to view full size

The South African am­bas­sador to France, Em­manuel Nkosi­nathi Mtheth­wa, known as Nathi Mtheth­wa, was found dead on Tues­day morn­ing at the foot of a lux­u­ry ho­tel tow­er in west­ern Paris, a French pros­e­cu­tor said.

The 58-year-old am­bas­sador had been re­port­ed miss­ing on Mon­day evening, af­ter his wife said she re­ceived a wor­ry­ing mes­sage from him “in which he apol­o­gized and ex­pressed his in­ten­tion to take his own life,” Paris pros­e­cu­tor Lau­re Bec­cuau said in a state­ment.

On Tues­day morn­ing, a se­cu­ri­ty guard at the Hy­att ho­tel dis­cov­ered Mtheth­wa’s body in the in­ner court­yard, Bec­cuau said, adding an in­ves­ti­ga­tion has been opened.