A Rondebosch woman, arrested after police allegedly found almost 5 000 pirated DVD movies and computer games in her home, was spared spending Christmas in jail because of ill health.
Friday's raid was conducted by the police and members of the SA Federation against Copyright Theft (Safact).
Safact CEO James Lennox said police confiscated computer equipment, Sony Play Station games, and music and movie discs in the raid on the woman's Queens Road home.
The woman and her husband are already facing three pending court cases related to copyright law.
A police source said the woman could have spent the entire Christmas long weekend in jail, but was released claiming she was ill. She was warned to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
Lennox said pirating by a growing number of home operators in the Cape Town region was of serious concern to legitimate business which was |suffering from lost sales amounting to tens of millions of rand a year.