The body of Ambassador Nathi Mthethwa arrives at his KZN homestead ahead of his funeral

The body of Ambassador Nathi Mthethwa has finally been brought back to his homestead in KwaZulu-Natal ahead of his funeral on Sunday morning.

Mthethwa's mortal remains will lie at his family home in Kwambonambi, in northern KwaZulu-Natal, on Saturday evening.

His body was returned to South Africa on Friday, nearly a week after his death in Paris, where he served as ambassador to France and Monaco.

Final preparations for the special official category 2 funeral are at an advanced stage.

The body of the late ambassador was welcomed with traditional family rituals, which the media was not permitted to attend.

African National Congress (ANC) KwaZulu-Natal coordinator Mike Mabuyakhulu, who is at the Mthethwa homestead, praised the late ambassador’s contribution to the party dating back to the early days of democracy.

"I must say that Nathi is one of the fine cadres that were produced by the African National Congress and, in fact, produced by the revolution itself – he was a thinker, he was an ideologue, he was a leader par excellence, but he was an educator more than anything else."He said.

Mabuyakhulu added that Mthethwa also played significant roles in government.

"To be able to lead the ANC from the times of transition up to the level where he actually became the minister of agriculture, arts and culture, and sports and recreation and also moved from there and became a minister of police in South Africa." Said Mabuyakhulu

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to deliver the eulogy during Sunday’s funeral service.