Mthethwa and Family representatives, Your Excellencies, Deputy Director-General for Europe and the Americas Ambassador VM Dlomo, members of the diplomatic corps, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen.
Our gathering here is a sombre reminder that Ambassador Nkosinathi Emmanuel “Nathi” Mthethwa is no more. More than a week ago, our nation received the harrowing news of Ambassador Mthethwa’s passing.
With this news, hordes of people who loved and shared pivotal moments in life with him – as a son, father, husband, brother, colleague, friend, comrade and diplomats – were confronted with unimaginable grief and a deep sense of loss.
The news of his passing shook us profoundly, reminding us of the fragility of life and the fleeting nature of time. We have indeed suffered a monumental loss.
At the time of his departure, the Ambassador had been serving as our highest-ranking diplomat in France.
As the President remarked in his tribute, among Ambassador Mthethwa’s achievements in this role, which he had occupied since 2023, we count the deepening of relations between South Africa and the Republic of France and advancing our contribution to transforming global power relations.
In paying homage to the Ambassador, His Excellency Jean-Noël Barrot Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France described him as a friend of France and lauded his contribution to deepening the ties between our two countries.
Since South Africa and France normalised relations in 1994, our two countries have enjoyed warm and enduring ties demonstrated by regular exchanges and dialogues on political, economic and defence issues. We have exchanged ideas and built trust through regular political, economic and defence dialogues. France has become one of South Africa’s key economic partners.
Trade between our countries has grown steadily since the pandemic. South Africa remains the leading destination for French exports to sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for 16 percent of the total. French exports are led by chemicals, cosmetics and perfumes, followed by industrial and agricultural machinery.
France, in turn, imports transport equipment, vehicles, hydrocarbons, avocados, steel, precious stones and aluminium from South Africa.
These exchanges reflect more than figures. They tell a story of partnership, respect and shared progress. It was within this dynamic space that Ambassador Mthethwa worked his quiet magic.
One of his last acts of quiet magic was coordinating the South Africa Investment Conference in Paris, led by Deputy President Mashatile in May this year.
Since its inception in 2018, this investment forum has seen French companies commit over R70 billion in sectors such as renewable energy generation, manufacturing, retail, agribusiness and services.
Through skill, patience and conviction, Ambassador Mthethwa deepened the bond between our two nations and opened new paths for cooperation and understanding.
Amongst the discussions he really enjoyed with France was the interactions we had with Minister Boument, the Minister of Foreign affairs of France on Western Sahara as our meeting took place shortly after France had recognised the authority of Morocco over Western Sahara. Here, we reiterated our position to France on our support for the quest of self-determination of Western Sahara.
For his service and devotion, we owe him a great debt of gratitude.
Ambassador Mthethwa’s journey in service of the South African people was a long and daunting one.
In the days after his departure, many and speakers today have named occasions and moments that bear his indelible mark. Many have written and remembered him from his early years as a spirited young leader, a political educator and teacher, an organiser, a fierce strategist, and a loyal representative.
He was faithful to the cause, the people and their hopes of a better tomorrow.
He had a remarkable appreciation for the intersecting struggles of youth, workers and the people as a whole. A recurring theme in his lifelong service is unwavering dedication and loyalty to the people and our nation.
As an activist in the wave of youth resistance in the 1980s – as an activist of the South African Youth Congress (SAYCO) and later the ANCYL – Ambassador Mthethwa can be rightly counted as part of a generation that struck the final blow to apartheid and prised open the door to freedom.
In this great act of service and activism, his generation participated in the events that saw a pariah state, which had earned the wrath of freedom-loving people across the world, forced to the negotiation table.
And with this began an era marking South Africa’s full integration as a sovereign state in the family of nations.
In the various roles he held as a shop steward and organiser in different trade union formations, the Ambassador took to heart the notion that democracy must permeate all aspects of life.
He served the Republic for over two decades as a public representative. Testimony to his skill, creativity and dynamism, he was entrusted with multifaceted roles in the executive and his movement, the ANC.
Although the road he traversed was long and daunting, the end goal was always clear to him: to lay the foundations of a society on whose banners the words democracy, social justice and fundamental human rights are inscribed.
Ambassador Mthethwa departs the world at a time when the values and ideals at the core of our nationhood are under fierce challenge, domestically and abroad.
As we navigate geopolitical headwinds, we cannot afford to waver in our commitment to people-to-people solidarity and greater integration of our continent.
Our collective voice must continue to champion Africa’s call for global equality and to call for value addition at source as we did at FOCAC, SA/AU summit, and at all our bilateral engagements for our continent’s resources to drive the full development of our nations and its people.
We must continue with our commitment to defend multilateralism as the key to address global challenges like conflict, climate change and a debt crisis that continues to stunt the economies of the global South.
We have lost a diplomat who had an impeccable understanding of the nexus between domestic challenges and our foreign policy. He appreciated the inextricable links between the need to build a prosperous South Africa, a stable and thriving Africa and a just and equitable world order.
We have indeed lost a humble, skilled and informed messenger of the South African people.
As the clock ticks closer to the final moments when we lower Ambassador Mthethwa’s mortal remains into the earth, draped in the beautiful colours that represent a nation that he played no small role in building, may we recommit ourselves to the ideals and values that he so passionately championed and fervently defended.
Indeed, may we never falter or fray in our quest to build and renew our resilient democracy, a peaceful and flourishing African continent and a just and equitable world order.
In this commitment, let us, like the dancer in Keorapetse Kgositsile’s poetry, defy fatigue and find rhythm even under the most testing circumstances.
Ambassador Mthethwa would expect nothing less of us.
May his soul rest in peace.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION
OR Tambo Building
460 Soutpansberg Road
Rietondale
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0084