A late February raid against Waka TV, a subscription-based TV piracy operation running in South Africa, was part of an ongoing collaboration between the Western Cape Provincial Commercial Crime Investigation Unit and the MultiChoice Group, Africa’s largest media company.
It was a continuation of a collaboration which, in November 2024, resulted in the arrest of a man selling illegal streaming devices and reselling Waka TV. In addition to a dozen of these devices, police had seized the offender’s mobile phone and a USB device.
Overall in 2024, MultiChoice collaboration with law enforcement resulted in 9 raids and 15 arrests, according to reporting from MyBroadband. Other raids resulting from the MultiChoice-Western Cape law enforcement collaboration included one in Wellington against an individual who had already been in court several times, and a raid in Maitland, Cape Town, against another individual in December.
The policeman arrested in late February raid was not identified.
Further reading
Policeman arrested in MultiChoice Waka TV raid. Article. February 26, 2025. Tech Central (South Africa)
MultiChoice nails police officer for alleged piracy. Article. February 26, 2025. by Daniel Puchert. MyBroadband (South Africa)
DStv deals blow to major pirate streaming service. Article. February 3, 2025. by Myles Illidge. MyBroadband (South Africa)
MultiChoice nabs another alleged Waka piracy TV reseller in Worcester. January 31, 2025. by Thinus Ferreira. TV with Thinus blog (South Africa)
Why it matters
“Law enforcement agencies have been instrumental in dismantling piracy networks, and we will continue to work closely with them to ensure illegal operations are disrupted,” said Frikke Jonker, anti-piracy director for MultiChoice’s Irdeto anti-piracy unit; in a statement to the South African journal Tech Central. MultiChoice characterizes Waka TV as being part of a “vast, highly organised piracy syndicate that has siphoned millions from the legitimate broadcasting industry.”
Mr. Jonker recently told MyBroadband journalists that South Africans found guilty of content piracy can face a fine of up to R2 million and a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
