A man has been shot dead in Limpopo after allegedly trying to steal parts of a telecommunications tower on Tuesday afternoon.

According to Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) spokesperson Grace Langa, police received a call about 2pm about an alarm from the Matungungu Vodacom tower at Ngobe Village, Giyani.

When police arrived they saw four men, who allegedly started to shoot at them.

“The police retaliated and shot dead one suspect but the other three managed to disappear into the mountain,” Langa said.

Three tower batteries were found at the scene, along with a grinder, a hacksaw, pliers, a hammer, a crowbar, three jackets, a school bag and two empty cartridges, according to Langa.

The suspect is believed to be in his mid-thirties and was found in a pool of blood with a single gunshot wound to the temple.

Police firearms have been seized and the deceased was tested for primer residue, which is left on the body when a firearm is fired. Tests will confirm whether the suspect had indeed fired a weapon.

An inquest has been opened as well as a case of theft.

Ipid attended the scene and took exhibits for forensic analysis.

A postmortem will be conducted.

TimesLIVE