In the quiet, small township of Klaarwater, west of Durban, the air is heavy with grief.
The death of ambassador Nathi Mthethwa in Paris has stunned the community where his political journey began — a journey marked by ambition, controversy and ultimately, tragedy.
French authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding Mthethwa’s death, believed to have occurred outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel in the Porte Maillot district of the French capital.
His body was discovered after his wife reported him missing, prompting a search that ended in heartbreak. While the official cause remains under scrutiny, early reports suggest a suspected suicide.
But in Klaarwater, the focus is not on the headlines abroad. It’s on the memories of a man who rose from a modest matchbox home to the highest echelons of government.
The house in which Mthethwa and his family lived was modest but filled with the spirit of resilience and community.
It was here, in this small township, that Mthethwa joined the ANC Youth League, igniting a political career that would see him serve as police minister, arts and culture minister and finally South Africa’s ambassador to France.
His rise was both swift and controversial.
During the 2005 ANC policy conference, Mthethwa emerged as one of the ANCYL’s most vocal defenders of Jacob Zuma, who had been dismissed as deputy president by Thabo Mbeki following his indictment on corruption charges, and later a rape charge involving a family friend.
Mthethwa publicly called for Zuma’s reinstatement, positioning himself as a key figure in the fightback against Mbeki’s leadership.
His loyalty was later rewarded with a cabinet post: first as minister of safety and security under president Kgalema Motlanthe in 2008, and then as police minister in both Zuma’s administrations.
His deputy at the time, Fikile Mbalula, reportedly viewed Mthethwa as a junior in the youth league hierarchy.
However, Mbalula soon moved on to become minister of sports and recreation, leaving Mthethwa to lead the police ministry unfettered.
It was only years later, under President Cyril Ramaphosa, that Mthethwa assumed the sports, arts and culture portfolio. By then Mbalula had served as police, then transport minister, and ultimately rose to become ANC secretary-general.
Mthethwa’s name surfaced during the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into state capture, particularly around the disciplinary and prosecutorial action against former Crime Intelligence boss Richard Mdluli.
More recently, the Madlanga commission revisited these issues, reigniting questions about accountability and political protection.
Former acting police commissioner and KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi publicly stated that political interference in police operations began during Mthethwa’s tenure.
According to Mkhwanazi, Mthethwa instructed the inspector-general to halt action against Mdluli — a move that deeply unsettled him.
Mkhwanazi later requested to be relieved of his duties and was left to “sit at home” for over a year, sidelined from the force he once led.
Mthethwa’s other home, in eMpangeni on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, also became the subject of controversy.
During his time as police minister, a boundary wall and security upgrades were installed at the property — funded not through official channels, but via the Crime Intelligence secret services account.
Investigators at the Zondo commission revealed that about R195,000 was spent on the upgrades, exceeding the R100,000 limit permitted by the ministerial handbook.
Witnesses testified that the funds were irregularly sourced and that proper procedures were bypassed.
His tenure as arts and culture was similarly marked by controversy.
A multimillion-rand tender to develop a national heritage site — including a proposed monumental flag project — drew public backlash for its cost and lack of transparency.
These incidents added to the perception of a minister increasingly out of step with public sentiment.
Despite his stature, Mthethwa remained tethered to Klaarwater.
Some residents questioned why he had to demolish his family home, which had stood as a symbol of his youth.
One resident recalled how he promised to rebuild it from scratch — a gesture that symbolised both ambition and connection. But by the time of his death, he had not got around to rebuild it.
Hilda Khwela, 86, who lives opposite the site where the Mthethwa homestead once stood, said she was related to the family through the surname.
“The family came from eMpangeni and settled here, and Nathi went to school around here. He was naughty like other children. He also excelled in soccer and sports in general.
“But in his later youth, he joined the struggle. I remember his mother, who went through thick and thin to raise him and his siblings, was so worried when he joined the comrades. She was fearful that he was going to be killed. In those days it was commonplace to see those at the forefront killed.
“I was so shocked when the children told me yesterday that he had died in France. I still can’t believe it.”
“He often visited me to say ‘hi’, sit for a banter and give me money for cold drinks, even as his political star was rising,” Khwela added.
Themba Mnguni, a 56-year-old veteran teacher who grew up alongside Mthethwa, shared vivid memories of his friend and comrade.
“Though Nathi was three years older than me, I introduced him to the struggle and the underground movement. He became a brilliant comrade and was very good at disciplining wayward comrades, not afraid to use physical force when necessary,” Mnguni recalled.
He also remembered Mthethwa’s prowess on the football field.
“In his youth, he was an incredible football player, often called Jazzman because of his left-foot poetry.”
Their friendship endured through the years, with regular conversations by phone and meetings whenever Mthethwa was in Durban.
Several residents said both Mthethwa’s parents, as well as his two brothers, have since passed on, leaving only his two sisters behind to carry the family legacy.
His controversial passing reminds me of Anton Lubowski and Dulcie September’s deaths (both believed to have been killed by enemy forces). One thing for sure, knowing him, taking his life was not in his vocabulary.
— Veteran unionist Mthokozi Khubone
Mthokozi Khubone, a veteran unionist, reflected on Mthethwa’s roots and activism:
“I know him as an activist from Klaarwater who regularly identified himself with the struggles of the Folweni Youth Congress — an affiliate of the United Democratic Front. I still hold a pictorial image of him with his regular light brown leather jacket with Opela sandals.
“[Later on] I served under him in an ANC political commissariat that traversed the length and breadth of KwaZulu-Natal, convincing ANC branches that voting for comrade JZ [Jacob Zuma] as ANC president was consistent with ANC traditions of succeeding a senior leader with a deputy leader.
“The ANC KZN provincial political commissariat was made up of late comrade commander Sihle Mbongwa, the late SACP deputy provincial secretary Important Mkhize, political commissar Thami Mohlomi, and myself — the then Cosatu KZN provincial educator.
“Under comrade Nkosinathi Mthethwa, the commissariat delivered on its mandate and he was deployed to the ministry of safety and security under comrade Jikajika [another Jacob Zuma’s nickname].
“His controversial passing reminds me of Anton Lubowski and Dulcie September’s deaths [both believed to have been killed by enemy forces]. One thing for sure, knowing him, taking his life was not in his vocabulary.”
Plans to repatriate Mthethwa’s remains are still being finalised by the government.
Meanwhile, in Klaarwater, the community that shaped his early years was quietly preparing for a memorial service — a farewell to one of their own, whose life journey spanned township streets, ministerial corridors and foreign embassies, ending in tragedy far from home.
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