A suspected cable thief was electrocuted at the Westfield substation near Modderfontein‚ north-east of Johannesburg‚ City Power said.

It said the man’s body was found hanging from one of the transformers by its technicians on Friday.

“It is suspected that the suspect tried to vandalise the substation and steal copper and cables from the transformer when he was electrocuted and died on the scene‚” said City Power spokesman Isaac Mangena.

It was not known how long the suspect had been dead‚ he said.

“The matter has been referred to the police for further investigations and to determine the identity of the deceased.

“The incident did not affect the supply of electricity in the area‚” said Mangena.

“We would like to warn criminals against toying around with death by fiddling with electricity infrastructure. Vandalism and cable theft cost the city millions of money - money that could be used for other service delivery needs‚” he added.