A suspected cable thief was found lying motionless and beaten up on the side of the road on Malvina Street in Birchleigh North on Monday.
The man was found in possession of a bunch of cables.
According to Birchleigh North resident, Mike Froneman, it is suspected the man was caught stealing cables along Pongola River Drive and chased to Malvina Road, where Norkem Park SAPS and ADT Security members found him lying on the side of the street, motionless.
“I received a message on my cell phone from my neighbour, who informed me that someone had been beaten up for stealing cables. I then rushed over to the scene from Isando,” Froneman said.
“When I arrived on the scene at about 10.15am, I found the man surrounded by the police and the ADT officers but no one else was around; not even the people who had beaten him up.”
It is suspected that the people who caught him in the act chased after him until Malvina Street, where they assaulted him and left him on the street.
According to Froneman, the suspect was lying on the side of the street with his eyes closed and unable to speak.
“He was bleeding from the mouth, his shoes and top were off and his back had marks that looked like he was hit by a sjambok.”
The attack came after Solomon Makgoke, a Malvina Street resident who runs the local Whatsapp group neighbourhood watch, had his electricity cut off the day before because of cable theft.
“I informed Ekurhuleni Metro, who sent out electricians to check out what was happening,” Makgoke said.
“After inspection, they discovered that the electricity box opposite my house had its padlock broken and inside the electricity cable linked to my home specifically had been tampered with.
“I suspect it might be the same guy because the cable that was cut off from the electricity box is the same length as one of the cables that was found on the suspect.”
The man was taken to Tembisa Hospital by an ambulance.
