Cellphone thief drowns in Zoo Lake

A suspected cellphone thief drowned in Zoo Lake in Johannesburg at the weekend while trying to run away, Gauteng police say.

"He might have been a security guard working at Zoo Lake, but we don't know for certain," said Lt-Col Lungelo Dlamini.

"We also think he may have been drunk but cannot confirm at this stage."

The man threatened a woman near the car park of Zoo Lake on Saturday - the day of the Gay Pride Parade - and stole her cellphone.

She enlisted the help of a passer-by and they found the man talking on her phone.

"When he saw them approaching, he panicked and dropped the phone and jumped into the lake and disappeared," Dlamini said.

The matter was then reported to the Parktown police and divers began a search. His body was recovered on Sunday.

The man, thought to be aged between 30 and 40 years old, has not yet been identified.