Roodepoort Man Electrocuted to Death After Allegedly Vandalising Substation
- A man from Roodepoort lost his life after unsuccessfully trying to steal copper cables from a substation at night
- The man’s body was found burned beyond recognition and the substation was damaged, causing a blackout
- The resulting blackout affected parts of the neighbourhoods surrounding Roodepoort in the West Rand
Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered police investigations and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.
Source: Getty Images
A man who allegedly tried to vandalise the Roodepoort mechanical workshop substation was found dead at the substation. City Power found his body burned beyond recognition.
Man killed after trying to rob substation of copper cables
According to TimesLIVE, the man’s body was found on 13 February 2024 when City Power workers reported for duty in the morning. It is not clear what he touched that caused the electrical shock, which left the substation in a state of vandalism. The vandalism left parts of Florida, Hamberg and other neighbourhoods without electricity.
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Netizens react to how the man died
South Africans on Facebook reacted to the man’s death at his own hand.
Hastings Banda said:
“There is no vandalism in all in infrastructural installation. It is pure theft of metal parts, particularly cubed, which are valuable to metal dealers. So any unauthorised entry to such installations should be deemed attempted theft unless it happens under different circumstances like riots.”
Chris China wrote:
“We need proof, through the courts, that Eskom and municipalities have implemented constructive measures to curb infrastructure damage to electricity.”
Mbo Cwali said:
“He went into the shadows of death."
Connie Heyns warned:
“Those who don’t want to listen must feel. You play around with dangerous things, and you will get burned.”
Thulani Dube remarked:
“Let’s hear the response from the Human Rights Commission of South Africa.”
Collin Khavamba said:
“That’s shocking news.”
Paul Pregnolato added:
“I guess he wanted to keep up with current events.”
Man electrocuted after trying to steal cable
In a similar article, Briefly News reported that a man from Randburg was found dead after he tried to steal cables.
The unidentified man was trying to steal copper cables from a substation in the area. City Power technicians were called to a power outage report in Bordeaux when they found the man’s body.
Source: Briefly News
