South Africa’s Competition Commission said it is investigating airlines for “allegedly colluding” over ticket costs and pricing strategies during this year’s Soccer World Cup tournament in the country.

The companies include Johannesburg-based Comair Ltd., which is part owned by British Airways Plc, state-owned South African Airways Ltd., 1time Holdings Ltd., SA Airlink, and SA Express, the Pretoria-based Commission said in an e-mailed statement today. 1time, Comair, SA Airlink and SA Express denied colluding.

South Africa hopes the World Cup, the world’s most-watched sporting event, will attract as many as 450,000 visitors in June and July, mainly from Europe. South Africa, the continent’s most industrialized economy, has expanded airports in cities that will host World Cup matches.

“Some firms might want to exploit the situation by engaging in anti-competitive conduct,” Competition Commissioner Shan Ramburuth said in the statement. “The Commission is obliged to investigate all legitimate complaints in such instances.”

Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo airport is southern Africa’s biggest transport hub, with 17 million passengers passing through every year, according to its Web site. South Africa’s target for visitors may be impossible to reach because a lack of affordable flights from Europe, said Jerome Valcke, secretary- general of soccer’s ruling body, FIFA.

“It’s impossible to find a seat,” he told reporters in Johannesburg yesterday. “If you want to do it, it costs a fortune.”

SAA, whose low-cost unit Mango is also being investigated, submitted e-mail correspondence between airlines as evidence. The carrier is cooperating with the commission in exchange for “leniency from prosecution,” the Commission said.

SAA spokeswoman Sarah Uys said she couldn’t immediately comment when called.

SA Airlink said it received but didn’t respond to an e-mail “by a Comair employee raising the issue of coordinating pricing strategies ahead of the World Cup.”

“SA Airlink did not seek to involve itself in the collusive conduct unilaterally suggested by another airline,” the company said in an e-mailed response to questions.

Comair CEO Gidon Novick, in a phone interview, said his company hasn’t colluded over ticket prices. He declined to comment on SA Airlink’s allegations without having seen what they’re based on.

“There has been no discussion of pricing, we set our own pricing, pricing is set in the context of the market,” Novick said. “Airlines watch what other airlines are doing, but we certainly don’t collude.”

Deputy Competition Commissioner Thembinkosi Bonakele said today that a company, which he declined to name, had submitted a proposal to fix prices.

“There is an issue about whether other airlines actually followed that proposal or they didn’t,” Bonakele said in an interview on Johannesburg’s 702 Talk Radio. “The proposal was very clear about the strategy that needed to be followed around the World Cup period.”

Itime Chief Executive Officer Rodney James denied there had been any collusion or discussions with SAA.

“We do not communicate with SAA at all, not by e-mail or any means,” James said in a phone interview. “We are fierce competitors, we certainly don’t talk to them about pricing issues.”

SA Express “is not party to any collusion with other airlines pertaining to pricing strategies during the 2010 World Cup tournament,” Dileseng Koetle, a company spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed response to questions.

Comair closed unchanged at 2.8 rand in Johannesburg, and 1time was unchanged at 1.15 rand.

Source: Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=adC8Et0Lo7AI)

GARDEN Route towns are preparing for a large influx of foreign tourists during the World Cup.

Their optimism is anchored in the knowledge that three international teams have secured luxury Garden Route resorts in George and Knysna as their base camps for the event, with the possibility that a fourth might still choose Mossel Bay.

Knysna will play host to the French team at Pezula and the Danish team at Simola golf estates, while the Japanese team has booked the Fancourt estate in George.

Mossel Bay is still hoping that Paraguay, or another team, will choose the town as its base. Paraguay initially expressed an interest in Mossel Bay, but then backtracked, saying the practice pitch being prepared for them was not up to scratch.

Mossel Bay spokesman Harry Hill says they have not given up hope on Paraguay, and if that does not work out, possibly another team will choose the coastal town.

“We are aware that a number of teams have not yet chosen their base camps and have until the end of January to decide. We are going all out to get a team because Mossel Bay has a lot to offer and the town will benefit tremendously. The training pitch issue will be sorted out in time.”

Meanwhile, Knysna and George have started preparing for the big event. Both towns have set up organising committees and sub-committees to deal with the multitude of aspects associated with successfully accommodating, feeding, transporting and looking after the foreign visitors.

Knysna Mayor Eleanor Bouw-Spies says her town’s committee has held meetings with the French Consul and cultural organisation Alliance Francaise and both will provide French language teachers for the hospitality and service industries.

“They are also compiling a booklet with basic French terms and English translations. We are committed to making our visitors feel at home.” The same effort would be made to accommodate the Danes.

Knysna’s preparation of the training pitches for the two international teams is on schedule and facilities like cloakrooms at Loerie Park, the French team’s training ground, are being upgraded.

Consideration is being given to incorporating French and Danish aspects into the Knysna Oyster Festival, which will coincide with the World Cup.

In George, municipal official and organising committee member Andre Smith is in charge of arrangements to host the Japanese team and the running of the only official World Cup public viewing area (PVA) in the Southern Cape, at Pacaltsdorp.

Steyn says George is hoping to attract between 10000 and 15000 visitors from Japan alone. Work is well under way to upgrade the pitches at Outeniqua Park as a training facility for the Japanese team, and huge efforts will be put into “creating a World Cup vibe” in the town.

This will include putting up the flags of the competing nations, billboards and even massive soccer balls in the town centre. Language and cultural issues are being given priority, with lessons on offer to enable service industry workers to at least greet guests in Japanese and observe certain customs considered polite.

Information kiosks will be put up at a number of sites in George, staffed by people proficient in Japanese, Danish, French and Spanish, to assist visitors.

Both Knysna and George have promised their taxi industries the opportunity to be of service during the World Cup, and Garden Route tourism operators are hoping to cash in.

Both towns are confident that careful management of water will ensure that its scarcity does not become a major issue for the World Cup.

Disaster preparedness has also had considerable attention.

Eden District Council disaster management head Gerhard Otto says preparation for 2010 began 18 months ago and includes the setting up of a disaster centre and a joint operations centre. Newly trained firefighters will be employed by the various Garden Route municipalities, and the police will co-operate with other emergency services personnel to ensure a unified, efficient service to tourists.

Otto has asked that some emergency staff be trained in the languages of the teams based in the region.

Source: Weekend Post (http://www.weekendpost.co.za/article.aspx?id=522667)

Two of South Africa’s World Cup venues witnessed their first football matches on Saturday in preparation for the tournament.

The Cape Town Stadium hosted a local derby between Santos and Ajax Cape Town while the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane held an-all day tournament and both stadiums passed the first test of their readiness for the big event in June.

The Peter Mokaba Stadium is one of the five new stadiums that were built up from the dust. It will host four group stage matches including a much anticipated clash between France and Mexico. On Saturday, the stadium held just one less match than it would in the entire World Cup, with no complications.

The Peter Mokaba Cup, featuring defending South African Premiership team SuperSport United, Soweto giants, Kaizer Chiefs, student Premiership side, BIDvest Wits and Danish club Brondby, saw two semi-finals and a final played on the same day.

Roger de Sá, former South African goalkeeper and coach of BIDvest Wits said the stadium handled the day professionally. “All round it’s a very good stadium. The training grounds are close by and the stadium itself has a good pitch and tight atmosphere with modern touches.”

Part of that upgrade involved security. Police spokesperson Motlafela Mojapelo said more police officers than normal were deployed in the Polokwane area for the event. The stadium has a capacity of 46,000 but less than half of it was occupied for the Cup. More than 18,000 tickets were sold, according to Ndavhe Ramakuela, the Director of 2010 in the Polokwane Municipality.

A slightly larger number of fans piled into the revamped Cape Town Stadium to watch the derby match between the two Premiership teams. Twenty thousand tickets were made available and the match was sold out. The event was dubbed the Cape Town Soccer Festival and also had a musical performance by Freshly Ground and an official blessing.

Danny Jordaan, CEO of the Organising Committee, said he hopes Cape Town would come together as a community for the eight matches that will play out there. “We want this stadium to have a significant number of supporters from Cape Town, so that they can enjoy the stadium; so that they can embrace the fans coming and get into the spirit of being good hosts. It would be sad if you have a party in your house, and there’s not a single one of your family members in the house,” said Jordaan.

The match was also used as an opportunity to test the transport arrangement. Almost all of the ticket holders used the free park and ride facility and organisers said there were no glitches. Security was significantly increased ahead of the match. A thousand police officers from 24 different units patrolled the area around and inside the stadium on the day. The stadium will be tested again in two weeks time when a rugby match will see over 40,000 allowed into the venue.

Source: ESPN (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/730468/ce/uk/&cc=5739?ver=global)

Poachers have killed at least 14 rhino since the start of the year, SA National Parks said on Friday.

Seven were poached in the North West and another seven in the Kruger National Park, Sanparks chief executive officer David Mabunda said in a statement.

The figure brought the total number of rhino killed in the last three years to 93. A total of 48 arrests were made.

Two suspected poachers were arrested in the first two weeks of January this year.

“Investigations are continuing, with a number of leads on some more suspects, and the investigating team predicts that more arrests will be made soon.

“We are not forgetting upstanding members of our communities who have in the past assisted us in foiling the plans of these would-be poachers and even arresting them. We are saying that we cannot finish this task without your invaluable help. We need all the information you can provide on these criminals so that we can put them away for a long time.”

Mabunda said plans to bring the military to patrol the Kruger National Park’s border with Mozambique were at an advanced stage.

“South Africans must realise that we are not dealing with your ordinary petty criminal here, these poachers are members of well-resourced syndicates and are also involved in chilling crimes like human trafficking, arms smuggling, prostitution and drug trafficking.

“They are dangerous criminals.”

- SAPA

Source: News 24 (http://www.news24.com/Content/SciTech/News/1132/23765d7998634f7f8f7a7a83f648edce/23-01-2010-08-08/14_Rhino_killed_in_2010)