Police in partnership with the Films and Publication Board (FPB) have destroyed more than 200,000 illegal DVDs, most of which contained pornographic material.

The DVDs were being sold on the streets and at taxi ranks in Johannesburg, said police spokesman Col Lungelo Dlamini.

"The destruction process is conducted to prevent the seized material from finding their way back to the (informal) market."

The items were seized during “Okae Molao” operations and were destroyed at the weekend at Clayville.

Maria Matebang, acting CEO of the FPB, said that clamping down on illicit trade helped support local content creators by ensuring that the potential economic outflow of their work was not lost to piracy.

“The South African Police Service and other law enforcement agencies will continue to clean up the streets of Gauteng and raid all the distribution outlets operating at the taxi ranks, street vendors and internet cafés," said Gauteng police provincial commissioner Lt- Gen Mawela.