Cops destroy illegal DVD, CD haul
ILLEGAL DVDs and CDs – often of a pornographic nature – are being sold outside schools and colleges in Durban for R10.
This emerged on Friday when 30 000 DVDs and CDs with a street value of close to R10 million were destroyed at a waste management site on North Coast Road in Durban.
The material – mostly Hollywood, Bollywood, pornographic and local content – was seized during raids in KwaZulu-Natal over the past three months.
The stakeholders present included members of the Film and Publication Board, SAPS, Metro, Oricol Environmental Services, and the Government Communication Information System (GCIS).
Rajesh Vishnu, the regional coordinator for the Film and Publication Board in KZN, said half of the seized material was from the Durban CBD, Isipingo, and Pinetown.
“The Isipingo taxi ranks are hotspots for this type of criminal activity. The items are normally carried in bags and displayed on tables.
“The problem is that these items can be sold to anyone and children are easily exposed to pornographic material. A pornographic DVD is sold for about R10.
“Some of these discs are sold outside schools, but it’s everywhere. In Warwick Avenue, for instance, it’s sold outside technikons.
“Where there is a market, that area will be targeted.”
Captain Tanya Pillay, of the Phoenix SAPS, said the destroyed discs were from evidence submitted during concluded court cases.
Most of the confiscated material was from Durban with Bollywood and Kollywood movies making up 10% of the haul.
She said in Phoenix, the material was mostly sold in the vicinity of the local plaza and Gem City. Pillay added that the Blue Lagoon was also a popular hotspot for illegal DVDs.
“The selling of illegal DVDs is not what it used to be since we clamped down on DVD writers, who are the bigger culprits.
“They make the DVDs as opposed to those who sell them. The writers make about 3 000 copies a day.
“But whatever the police find on the streets is seized.”
Warrant Officer Soobiah Soobramoney,
of the Phoenix SAPS, said numerous people were arrested in relation to the sale of illegal material.
“But sometimes the trail of evidence is broken, so elements of doubt are brought in and as a result, the cases are acquitted.
“If there is a positive conviction, criminals can spend up to six months in jail, but they often face charges of up to R10 000 if they are arrested with a computer hard drive.”
Bernadette Williams, of Oricol, said they aimed to ensure the material was securely destroyed.
She said the illegal trade deprived local and international film producers of earnings.
Bongeka Nkwanyana, the assistant director for content and knowledge management at the GCIS, said the government needed to protect local content.