South Africans are grappling with the legacy that Nathi Mthethwa left behind following his sudden death in Paris this week.
Mthethwa, who held several cabinet portfolios before he was appointed Ambassador to France in 2023, leaves behind a record marked by both achievements and controversy.
Political analyst Siyabonga Ntombela said Mthethwa’s career contained a mixture of successes and missteps.
“He managed to bag some successes during his Minister of Police when Bheki Cele was a National Commissioner of Police. Between 2009 and 2014, serious crimes like CIT heists declined significantly.
“However, in 2022, when Nathi Mthethwa was the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, he made a blunder by proposing a national flag project that would have cost taxpayers R22m. I think this is an indelible legacy that people remember him for,” he said.
Ismail Mahomed, Director for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), said his heart remained with the families of the Marikana tragedy.
The tragedy occurred on August 16, 2012, when police opened fire on striking mineworkers at the Lonmin platinum mine in North West Province. 34 miners were killed and at least 78 injured, marking the deadliest use of force by security forces against civilians since the end of apartheid.
Despite a government inquiry, the Farlam Commission, which criticised police tactics, the mining company Lonmin, and union rivalries, no senior officials or police officers have been criminally convicted for the killings. Families of the victims continue to call for justice, accountability, and compensation, arguing that true justice has not yet been delivered.
“My heart still stays with the families of the Marikana tragedy, the artists who couldn’t get medical attention because a vanity flag was more important than their lives, and the destruction caused through ego, ignorance, and arrogance,” he said.
Theo Neethling, Professor and Head of the Department of Political Studies and Governance at the University of the Free State, stated that Mthethwa’s record reflected the broader ambiguities of post-apartheid politics.
“Mthethwa’s political legacy is a study in contrasts—one that mirrors the broader ambiguities of South Africa’s democratic era. Within ANC ranks, he will be remembered as a steadfast cadre of the liberation struggle and a disciplined servant of the democratic state.
“Yet, Mthethwa’s career cannot escape its shadows. As police minister, he served at a time of one of South Africa’s darkest democratic episodes—the 2012 Marikana massacre, when police killed 34 striking mineworkers,” Neethling said.
He added that lingering questions still cloud Mthethwa’s record.
“And now, new allegations by General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi have raised the question of whether Mthethwa interfered in the operational affairs of the SAPS. One unresolved question lingers: Was he involved in political interference in SAPS operational affairs? Ultimately, the answers to these allegations will go a long way in determining how he is remembered.”
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