Four people were arrested for possession and distribution of child pornography in Pretoria and Cape Town, police said on Wednesday.

The arrests followed an investigation by specialised detectives from the family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit from Gauteng, Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said.

Three people were arrested in Hercules in Pretoria and one in Cape Town.

“The Cape Town suspect, a 47-year-old man who works as a broker, was arrested late last night and is currently in custody at the Fish Hoek police station.”

He is expected to appear in the Simonstown Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, said Naidoo.

“The Pretoria suspects, two men and a woman, whose ages range from 41 to 56, have today [Wednesday] appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court and their case has been postponed to this coming Friday for bail application,” he said.

During the arrests, six cellphones, four desktop computers, a laptop and three USBs were confiscated.

There was a global connection to the group who were arrested, Naidoo said.

The South Africans were arrested after police in Antwerp, Belgium, alerted the SA Police Service to a link between the four and a man arrested in their country.

The person who was arrested in Belgium in October last year for production, possession and facilitation of child pornography, was found with 219 contacts in his user accounts.

“Further investigations by the Belgian authorities pointed them to South Africa,” said Naidoo. News24