Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

A man who was shot dead in front of former South African president Nelson Mandela's home in Cape Town after he tried to open fire on police was a former soldier with apparent mental problems, reports said Wednesday.

Mandela, who was not at his house at the time of the incident, meanwhile, was "completely shocked," his spokeswoman Zelda la Grange said.

"An incident of this nature is always disturbing as it involves the possibility of loss of life," she said. "The safety of Mr Mandela, his family and staff is paramount to us all."

A joint statement by the ministers of defence, safety and security and intelligence ministers said the dead man was a former member of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) who had been discharged earlier this year.

"The man has been identified as an ex-SANDF member whose state of mind the SANDF had been concerned about," it said.

The ministers said the SANDF had been searching for the deceased in connection with the theft of military weapons - one of which had been recovered at the scene of the shooting.

The incident occurred on Tuesday evening when three men stopped outside Mandela's house in Cape Town's Bishopscourt area, where another anti-apartheid hero and Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu lives.

They asked to see Mandela or Tutu or the man who succeeded Tutu as archbishop of Cape Town Njongonkulu Ndungane, claiming they had some "material" about the upcoming general elections on April 14, which will be South Africa's third multi-racial polls.

"The police requested them to give an idea of what the problem was. The deceased then proceeded to the boot of their car, ostensibly to fetch the material he wanted to show the former president," the ministers' statement said.

"Instead he drew a heavy calibre weapon taking up a threatening position against the police that led to a confrontation and him being fatally wounded."

The ministers said they were "satisfied that the police acted correctly and with the necessary firmness the situation demanded."

They added:"We would like to assure the public that this was an isolated incident that has no bearing on the elections nor will it threaten stability of the forthcoming elections."

National police spokesman senior superintendent Selby Bokaba said the other two men sped away in the car and were apprehended for questioning.

The incident sparked immediate concern from a slew of political parties.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, in power since the formal end of apartheid in 1994, condemned the attack on its veteran leader who became the country's first black president.

ANC provincial secretary of the Western Cape region Mcebisi Skwatsha condemned "the brazen attack on the home of our elder statesman - a man who has sacrificed so much for our country and its people."

Opposition leader Tony Leon from the Democratic Alliance party expressed shock.

"Violence and intimidation are completely unacceptable in our democracy. Nelson Mandela is a living treasure of South Africa and he deserves the highest security measures available," he said.

New National Party secretary general Daryl Swanepoel said: "This incident comes at a time when we are supposed to be celebrating the first decade of political freedom of which Mr Mandela is a central part."

He asked the South African police to immediately find out the motive, saying: "All South Africans will want to know what is behind this incident."