A suspected cable thief has been arrested after he was allegedly caught trying to steal a live cable near the repair site of an electricity fault in Alexandra, Johannesburg.
The incident happened on Monday as City Power members were on site repairing a cable fault near the Alexandra substation, according to City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena.
“Bizarrely a few metres away, the suspect tried to cut and steal copper cable. What the suspect was not aware of is that some of the cables were live and supplied electricity to customers at that time of his actions.
“The cable blew up and burnt the suspect on most of the upper body, including the face,” he said.
Police were called to the scene and apparently managed to rescue the man just as community members were about to beat him up for cable theft.
Mangena said the area “is one of the hotspots for cable theft and vandalism, [which is] part of the reason most of the community east of the Jukskei River have gone for almost a week without electricity.
“The suspect has been charged with tampering with, and attempted theft of, essential infrastructure, and other related crimes,” he said.
City Power also confirmed it had recorded 25 incidents of cable theft and vandalism this weekend alone, with eight of those happening in the inner city.
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Suspect injured after live cable blows up during attempted theft in Alex
Image: 123RF/ niki72
A suspected cable thief has been arrested after he was allegedly caught trying to steal a live cable near the repair site of an electricity fault in Alexandra, Johannesburg.
The incident happened on Monday as City Power members were on site repairing a cable fault near the Alexandra substation, according to City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena.
“Bizarrely a few metres away, the suspect tried to cut and steal copper cable. What the suspect was not aware of is that some of the cables were live and supplied electricity to customers at that time of his actions.
“The cable blew up and burnt the suspect on most of the upper body, including the face,” he said.
Police were called to the scene and apparently managed to rescue the man just as community members were about to beat him up for cable theft.
Mangena said the area “is one of the hotspots for cable theft and vandalism, [which is] part of the reason most of the community east of the Jukskei River have gone for almost a week without electricity.
“The suspect has been charged with tampering with, and attempted theft of, essential infrastructure, and other related crimes,” he said.
City Power also confirmed it had recorded 25 incidents of cable theft and vandalism this weekend alone, with eight of those happening in the inner city.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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