• A DStv pirate reselling Waka TV has been charged with one year prison time or a R10 000 fine after being found guilty of a number of piracy-related crimes.
• MultiChoice says it is tracking down Waka TV resellers and customers after a major bust last year.
• This is probably a good time to think twice about stealing DStv’s sports content.

A person charged and convicted of being a DStv content pirate in South Africa has been handed the punishment of either one full year in prison and payment of a R10 000 fine by the Germiston Regional Court.

The alleged DStv pirate, Vuyisile Victor Selem, was arrested and charged after he was caught in the act of attempting to install an illegal IPTV box for an informant. Selem is a Waka TV reseller and must now face a R10 000 fine or a year’s worth of jail time for pirating DStv signal, MultiChoice said in an announcement.

It said that the reseller was convicted with charges that included contravention of the Cyber Crime Act 19 of 2022 and fraud. He was arrested in a crackdown late last year, and saw a first bail hearing on 16th September 2024.

At the time, MultiChoice’s Anti-Piracy Department and the police said they would be pursuing Waka TV’s reseller and customers.

“We are actively tracking additional targets connected to WakaTV, and the message is clear – those participating in this illegal network will be brought to justice,” Frikkie Jonker, Broadcasting Cybersecurity Anti-Piracy Director at MultiChoice said last year.

When Selem was arrested, “the contact details of several individuals who allegedly paid for the illegal service” were also obtained. Waka TV’s model of requiring a reseller to provide a pirate satellite signal makes it easy for authorities to track down who is stealing content from MultiChoice from the reseller.

Unlike with online piracy, there is no VPN that can hide you from this.

In June 2024, a team of local cybercrime agencies arrested a person said to be one of the main contributors responsible for Waka TV with the help of MultiChoice, which led to their access of Waka’s reseller network.

“The suspect, who is believed to have managed several pirate customers and resellers, was detained,” the company said. “Resellers supporting the mentioned pirate operation are also under investigation.”

MultiChoice, struggling with money, is on the warpath against anyone found stealing its content, especially its bread and butter sports content. If you are one of these people, we warn you to beware.

[Image – Photo by Michael Geiger on Unsplash]