Johannesburg - A man suffered burn wounds on Friday after cutting an electric cable near a train station in New Canada, south of Johannesburg, Metrorail Gauteng said.
The man was found bleeding on the ground by a technician who was called to attend to a power failure in the area around 6am, spokeswoman Lillian Mofokeng said in a statement.
He was taken to Baragwanath hospital and was currently under police guard.
He had sustained burns to his right arm, left knee, neck and had lacerations on the back of his body.
Mofokeng said the railway company had been dealing with cable theft incidents in the same area, which had resulted in train delays for Soweto commuters.
“We warn all the perpetrators and general public to refrain from tampering with electrical cables and infrastructural components as this can endanger their lives and also affect hundreds of commuters negatively, as a result of train delays in the section where cables are stolen.”
A case of theft was opened at the Orlando police station.
Sapa