Police and African National Congress officials, unable to explain the motive for the slaying of Winnie Mandela's bodyguard, have agreed to a joint investigation into the shooting.
Mandela, estranged wife of ANC president Nelson Mandela, witnessed the weekend incident but was not hurt.A statement issued Monday at a joint ANC-police news conference said the motive for the shooting, which also killed another man, was still unknown.
According to police, the shooting Saturday night occurred after bodyguard John Lawrence argued with two pedestrians as he drove Mandela through Johannesburg.
One of the pedestrians approached the car, opened the driver's door and fired a 9mm pistol at Lawrence, who fatally shot the attacker before dying.
The other pedestrian was arrested and indicated the attack had nothing to do with politics, police Col. Petrus Kruger told the South African Press Association.
"Neither man had any political motivation or involvement," Kruger was quoted as saying.
That statement drew an angry response from the ANC, which said it believed the attack may have been politically motivated.
After a meeting Monday between police officials and Mathew Phosa, head of the ANC's legal department, both sides agreed to halt speculation and let a joint investigation uncover the facts.
"Whether or not there was a political motive . . . no one, either the ANC or the police, is entitled to make that judgment at this stage," Phosa said.
ANC officials said Mandela, who has yet to comment on the shooting, was resting under sedation.
Mandela is one of the most controversial figures in the ANC, the country's largest black party. While popular with young militants, who admire her anti-government rhetoric, she has lost her political clout since the breakup of the marriage last year.
The separation followed Mandela's 1991 conviction for kidnapping and assault.