"They demanded a firearm and eventually shot and killed him. They took his service pistol before they fled the scene."

An off-duty policeman was killed in the Nyanga Vlei informal settlement, in Cape Town, on Monday evening, Western Cape police said.

Colonel Tembinkosi Kinana said the officer, in his early 30s, was visiting a local panel-beating workshop when three men confronted him.

"They demanded a firearm and eventually shot and killed him. They took his service pistol before they fled the scene."

The officer, whose identity is being withheld until his next-of-kin have been informed, died at the scene.

Kinana said case of armed robbery and murder was opened. No arrests had been made.