Artists and musicians in Thohoyandou who  were hard hit by piracy in recent times are sighing with relief, following the arrest of some of the kingpins in the trade.

Artists in the area suffered financially and some were even attacked when trying to confiscate their music from pirate sellers.

One such artist who was at the receiving end is famous Tshivenda music artist Tendani Nephawe, known as Mutendas in music circles.

After an outcry by artists, a meeting between the Film and Publications Board, artists and the police was held and it was decided that they all should work together in the war against piracy. A police task team was also formed to fight the scourge of piracy.

When it was formed a month ago, its head, Lt Col Tshifhiwa Mutepe, promised to leave no stone unturned in ridding Thohoyandou of the scourge of piracy. True to his word, in no time Thohoyandou town was cleared of all those who used to sell fake CDs and DVDs, with many illegal sellers arrested.

Only last week, acting on a tip off from artists, police swooped on a house in Thohoyandou Block F where an alleged pirate kingpin was staying. They confiscated equipment for the duplication of music and DVDs belonging to the alleged kingpin. The mastermind, however, was not at home. He is believed to have gone to his homeland, Zimbabwe.

Mutepe said the recent successes showed that they were determined to rid the town of piracy. “We will make this area a difficult area to operate in for the pirates. We have tightened the screws and, through our cooperation with the artists, the pirates will soon have no place to hide. We are going to hunt them wherever they are and bring them to book,” said Mutepe.

He said they were going to form partnerships with different stakeholders to help them in the fight against piracy. “We will visit our traditional leaders and make them aware of piracy, which is killing the livelihood of our artists. We are not only going to arrest the pirates, but we will also arrest those who buy pirated music and videos. By so doing, we will be closing the market, which will also discourage them from continuing to copy CDs and DVDs. Together, we will win the war,” he said.

Veteran gospel musician Paul Mulaudzi said he was happy that piracy was on the decline. “Our partnership with the police is now bearing fruits and we just hope that, in the not-too-distant future, musicians will once again be smiling, with sales of their music picking up,” he said.