Man arrested over pirate goods

2007-04-04 15:19

Johannesburg - A man has been arrested after pirate South African CDs and DVDs worth about R4 million were found at a house in Cyrildene, Johannesburg police said on Wednesday.

Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht said the man had been arrested near the house shortly after it was raided on Tuesday.

Engelbrecht said the man was well known to the police and was already out on bail of R50 000 in connection with the manufacture of pirate DVDs and CDs in Mayfair in Johannesburg last year.

"He tried to run away after he saw that police had seen him, but was apprehended by one of our police officers. He is still in our custody," said Engelbrecht.

Asked if more arrests were expected, Engelbrecht said the outcome of the investigation would determine this.

The Johannesburg metro police's Wayne Minnaar said pirate CDs and DVDs were found "all over the house, even in the ceiling and in the basement."

Describing the house, Engelbrecht said there was a hidden trapdoor in the bathroom leading to the ceiling where the equipment used to make the CDs and DVDs was hidden.

Police found four computers and several hard drives used in the manufacturing of the recordings.

The Star reported that one of the hard drives could copy up to eight CDs or DVDs simultaneously.

Police later discovered that the built-in wardrobe in a bedroom concealed another trapdoor leading to an underground bunker, equipped with air vents, a toilet and a processing machine.

Raid a joint effort by police and several musicians

Police also discovered two outbuildings used to store CD and DVD covers, ink for printing the covers and thousands of blank cassettes.

The raid was a joint effort by police, Johannesburg metro police, the Department of Trade and Industry and several musicians from the anti-piracy group, Operation Dudula. The musicians included poet Mzwakhe Mbuli, Afro-pop king Ringo Madlingozi, and gospel singer Deborah Frasier.

The Creative Workers Union confirmed that artists whose music had been pirated included Madlingozi, Mbuli, Stimela, Rebecca Malope, the late Brenda Fassie and Bheki Khabela.

Speaking to the Star, Madlingozi said piracy was not only stealing from him but from his family, children and the entire music industry.

"This has to stop. How long will this go on for? People always say we musicians die like paupers when in actual fact it through people like this that we are suffering. These people are making a 100% profit of my sweat and hard work," said Madlingozi.

- SAPA