Overview
- An Air France flight carrying Ambassador Nathi Mthethwa’s body landed at OR Tambo at 8:44 a.m. Friday before transfer to King Shaka International Airport and onward to his KwaMbonambi homestead.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa has conferred a Special Official Funeral Category 2 for Sunday, 12 October, with South African flags ordered at half‑mast from 9 to 12 October and SAPS providing ceremonial honours.
- French authorities are continuing their investigation into Mthethwa’s fatal fall from a 22nd‑floor hotel room in Paris, with no conclusive official cause released.
- Government and ANC figures paid tribute at memorials in Pretoria and Pinetown, praising his decades of service in Cabinet and diplomacy.
- Former police minister Bheki Cele publicly questioned reports suggesting suicide and cited conflicting details and limits on South African detectives’ travel to France.