A day after Nelson Mandela's daughter lashed out at the "crass" media frenzy around her ailing father, South African police today asked journalists to leave the road outside the entrance to the Pretoria hospital, where the global peace icon remains on life support.

Reporters were given an hour to remove their cars from the road outside the Park Street entrance to the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital, where the 94-year-old former president is admitted 21 days ago.

Celliers Street, where the hospital's exit is, has already been cordoned off to traffic. Tshwane metro police told journalists the vehicles posed a "security risk" to the hospital, SAPA news agency reported.

The Park Street entrance is where reporters have kept watch since Mandela was admitted on June 8 with a recurring lung infection. It is also the entrance used by the Mandela family, government officials, President Jacob Zuma, and others to enter the hospital. Mandela's daughter Makaziwe yesterday criticised the foreign media, calling them "vultures". She said the foreign media contingent camped outside the hospital were failing to respect African custom and the family's feelings.