South African President Thabo Mbeki's Cape Town offices were cordoned off Wednesday after a white powder was found on the premises, police said.
Two policemen at the scene told the South African press agency SAPA it was a "white powder scare".
National police spokesman Commissioner Joseph Ngobeni confirmed to AFP there had been an anthrax scare.
"We are treating this like any other anthrax scare," he said. "By last week he had 224 scares in South Africa and all the tests so far have been negative.
Police on Wednesday cordoned off Mbeki's Tuynhuys offices and presidential staff were denied entry into the building by the bomb disposal unit.
An ambulance was also on hand.
It could not be immediately established whether Mbeki, who is to address a joint sitting of parliament later in the day, was in the building -- CAPE TOWN, (AFP)
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