Cape Town – The Film and Publication Board (FPB) has confiscated 230 000 in illegal pornographic material, unclassified films and publications from both the streets and shops around the country in the past 2010/11 financial year.
FPB opened 759 cases with police in the year under review exceeding its target of about 300 cases.
Working with police they raided 907 non-compliant stores across the country surpassing their target of 265 raids. They also conducted over 7800 inspections beating their target of over 7000 inspections.
FPB’s sterling work and its unqualified annual report from the Auditor-General (AG) was commended by lawmakers at Parliament on Thursday.
The entity appeared before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs to present its annual report.
On its anti-child pornography campaign launched last year, FPB chief executive Yoliswa Makhasi said that they had since reached out to over 5 million South Africans.
Makhasi said that this was achieved, thanks largely to the opportunity presented by the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
She also thanked key roles players such as the SABC, provincial and municipal authorities in disseminating their awareness messages.
Makhasi said that “a firm foundation has been created for greater cooperation and partnerships” with civil society, the public and private sector to fight child pornography.
She highlighted to the committee that the campaign had reached out to 26 schools in six provinces and they distributed 90 000 in promotional material.
Renowned SA musician Yvonne Chaka Chaka was the patron of campaign while celebrity poet and producer Lebo Mashile and Meshack Mavusa of SABC 3’s Isidingo were its ambassadors.
Makhasi told MPs that of the 789 cases they had opened with police it was difficult to “track progress with the justice system.”
She said that they would write to Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on the matter with the hope that the security cluster could act on the matter.
She said that monitors still faced threats and at times were beaten up by hawkers.
She was concerned that most those being raided were “emerging entrepreneurs” who sold items such as DVDs or games.
In total, she said they had 17 monitors across the country and needed more to meet their goals.
She told the committee that the technology they were using for monitoring and regulating was aging.
Makhasi indicated that they depended wholly on up to date technology for better monitoring – Francis Hweshe, BuaNews
