A man has been arrested for allegedly trying to rape a woman while she was bathing in Siyabuswa, Mpumalanga police said on Tuesday.

Superintendent Abie Khoabane said a man, in his early 20s, was arrested on Monday on charges of attempted rape.

The man was said to have entered a room where a woman was taking a bath and allegedly tried to rape her.

"When the woman tried to phone for help, the man grabbed her cellphone and threw it away. The man fled when the woman started screaming for help."

The man would appear in the Siyabuswa Magistrate's Court, Khoabane said.