MBOMBELA – Music piracy is still rife in the city and surrounds, and this scourge is eating deep into artists’ pockets.
This came to light after the recent threat to burn local gospel artist, Sifiso “Sifiso S” Shongwe by an angry mob of immigrants who are selling pirated CDs in the streets at Tongo Plaza after he had approached them about their trade.
In an exclusive interview with Mpumalanga News, the coordinator of the Pirate Security Investigating Squad (PSIS), Mr Simon Mbethe, expressed concern about the sales of pirated CDs and DVDs which are on the increase in the province, especially in the Lowveld region.
“We were very moved when we heard about the reported attempt to burn the artist. These type of actions must stop at once. We have been conducting anti-piracy campaigns in various provinces and we have noted that slowly but surely this province will be the capital city of piracy if things are not taken seriously. We believe that it’s about time to revisit the City of Mbombela,” he said.
Mbethe also added that local artists must unite if they want to survive in the music industry.
“There is a serious problem among the artists, there is no unity in this province.
“As I mentioned before, even though we had been herenot a single artist supported our operation. We are not going to win this battle if we are divided. In Johannesburg artists came in their numbers to show that they care about their products,” he said.
He said government needed to intervene in this matter as they cannot win this battle alone. “We are appealing to government to meet us halfway, it’s not an easy battle, we need support. There are a lot of challenges that we come across during our operations. In most cases the culprits open cases of assault against the artists when the latter confiscate their pirated CDs and DVDs,” he concluded.
