Paris closes Nathi Mthethwa death inquiry as estate papers reach the Master

The French inquiry into how Nathi Mthethwa died has been closed, and the paperwork the Master of the High Court needs to wind up his estate has reached the Justice Department in Pretoria.

Mthethwa, a former minister and ambassador, died in Paris on 30 September last year. He was 58.

South African reporting on Friday confirmed the Paris Prosecutor’s Office had brought its investigation to an end, and that the department had taken delivery of the documents the Master requires before an estate can be administered.

What the family was told, and what the file now says

Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has told the public that the French findings line up with what the Mthethwa family was told about how he died. That is the substance of the announcement: the account the family already had is the account the Paris file carries.

That matters for two reasons. It closes a question that has hung over a public figure’s death since last September, and it removes the last procedural obstacle in front of the estate.

Why the Master of the High Court matters

In South African law, an estate cannot be wound up until the Master of the High Court has the documents the Administration of Estates Act requires. Where a person dies outside the country, the death has to be established to the Master’s satisfaction before an executor is appointed and the estate can be dealt with.

That is the step this week’s development unlocks. Until the foreign record arrives, the Master cannot act, the executor cannot be appointed, and the people named in the will cannot receive what was left to them. Banks hold the accounts. Deeds office transfers stall. Dependants wait.

The department has now confirmed the documents are in hand. The administration and finalisation of the estate can proceed.

The chronology

Mthethwa died in Paris on 30 September last year at the age of 58. He was serving as an ambassador at the time, having previously held a ministerial post in the national government. His death was reported at the time, and the cause was communicated to his family.

The Paris Prosecutor’s Office opened an inquiry, as French authorities do when a person dies on their soil in circumstances that require examination. That inquiry has now been closed, with findings that match what the family was told.

On Friday, the Justice Department confirmed it had received the papers the Master requires. The estate can now be administered.

What this means for the people who live here

The death of a senior South African diplomat abroad is a national matter, and the state’s machinery has a duty to move. This week it did. The Department of Justice and the Paris Prosecutor’s Office between them have produced the two things the family needed: an answer on the cause, and the documents that let the estate be dealt with under South African law.

That is not a small thing. Families in this position often wait years for a foreign death record to travel. The Mthethwa family will not.

What happens next

The Master of the High Court will now process the documents and appoint an executor so that the estate can be administered and finalised in the ordinary way. No further announcement from the French authorities is expected, the inquiry having been closed.

Source: eNCA, French probe into Nathi Mthethwa’s death closed