An unknown Zimbabwean man suspected of trying to steal copper wire was electrocuted early Saturday morning and died shortly after being admitted to the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital.

The man was electrocuted while fiddling with a transformer box located in Malherbe Street next to the Indian Cemetery.

According to Mr Shumani Mundalamo from the Makhado Municipality’s electrical department, the incident was reported to them by petrol attendants working at the nearby Palm Motors. Just after 03:00, a man ran up to the attendants and told them that a man had been electrocuted.

With the arrival of the traffic department en members of the police on the scene, the man was still alive and breathing. He was lying on the ground, holding his chest. He died shortly after being taken to hospital.

Following the incident, there was no trace of the man who had reported the matter to the petrol attendants. It is believed that the man could have been the deceased’s accomplice.

Mundalamo said that no serious damage was done to the transformer and that the man, while apparently trying to disconnect the electricity flow through the transformer, accidentally touched the high voltage cable. As a result, 222 000 volts ran through his body. This specific transformer supplies electricity to businesses in Malherbe Street.

Mr Masindi Mapholi, the municipality’s Director of Technical Services, was on leave when the incident occurred, but gladly commented. He said the death of the man will hopefully teach other copper cable thieves a lesson, adding that people who steal copper wire will not receive any sympathy from the municipality. Mapholi said the copper cable thieves and the scrap metal dealers who buy from them are contributing to the whole town’s downfall.