Oricol Environmental Services has coordinated the secure destruction of over 55 000 illegal DVDs and CDs that were seized from locations across KwaZulu-Natal.
This follows raids conducted by the Film and Publication Board’s (FPB) compliance monitoring team in partnership with the SA Police Services and Metro Police in Durban, Ladysmith, Port Shepstone, Pinetown, Pietermaritzburg, oThongathi, Chatsworth and Isipingo.
FPB spokesperson Lynette Kamineth told the Daily News that most of the discs came from Durban city and a large percentage were of Hollywood movies followed by local titles and music DVDs.
“The street value of the seized DVDs and CDs is estimated at more than R 5.5 million,” said Kamineth.
“The illegal distribution of films and games not only impacts on the revenue of content creators, but it also puts children at risk of exposure to the unclassified material and thus potentially harmful content,” she explained.
Lindsay Wayman, Oricol communications officer, said all the discs were collected and were under surveillance from the time they were collected, destroyed and sent to the landfill.
All the vehicles carrying the discs were tracked and followed.
“We want to recover as much of the packaging that can be recycled. Obviously, in this case, the DVDs had to be completely destroyed, and by the nature of that material, you can’t, unfortunately, recycle those.
“The material will be buried in the landfill,” she said.
Wayman said all the plastic packaging and wrapping around the discs were taken off and would be recycled, along with any boxes.
Kamineth said the discs were from evidence submitted during concluded court cases.
“The illegal distribution of discs impacts negatively on the film and creative industry as well as the economy of the country.
“Pirate pedlars steal intellectual property; they steal revenue by depriving content creators of their royalties. Legal distributors lose their livelihood,” she said.
Kamineth said the destruction process was conducted to prevent the confiscated discs from finding their way back to the market.
“Most of the confiscated material was unclassified, making it illegal under the Films and Publications Act.
“In addition, some discs contained pornographic material which were sold on the streets and at taxi ranks, and carries the risk of exposing children to harmful content,” she said