A thief who tried to steal cables at a Westfield substation near Modderfontein caused his own death.
A spokesman for power supply Isaac Mangena says the body of the alleged thief was found at the substation by technical personnel.
The dead man’s body hung on one of the transformers, indicating that he had a thousand volts through his body.
It is suspected that he wanted to sabotage the substation and steal copper cables connected to the transformer.
It is unknown how long the thief hung on the transformer, and his identity could not be ascertained.
Two days earlier, another person with serious burns was admitted to hospital after also trying to steal cables near Westdene, but improper handling caused a cable to explode, leaving the thief with numerous burns.