Democratic Alliance (DA) research shows that contrary to the Minister of Public Enterprises' reply to a parliamentary question, the state owned national carrier is not only hiking its prices during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but is also charging significantly higher prices around key games.

In answer to a question about why prices of SAA were two to three times higher than those of any other airline during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Minister of Public Enterprises replied that "SAA is not increasing all of its domestic fares for the World Cup" and that "there is no marked difference between fares offered during the World Cup and outside the World Cup period". He further went on to say that "when SAA's published fares are compared with other airlines, it becomes evident that SAA is cheaper as compared to other domestic carriers".

This is a startlingly incorrect statement.

Airline prices are published on the websites of SAA and other domestic carriers websites, and they illustrate that the minister is talking nonsense:

SAA's economy ticket fare between Johannesburg and Cape Town is R740 from today up until 9 June.
Economy ticket prices then rise during the tournament by 71.6%.
This fare is 60.1% higher than the average charged by 1Time, Mango, Kulula and British Airways on the same day. This is the case on both 1 July, the day before the quarter final in Johannesburg, and on 10 July, the day before the World Cup final itself.
On 5 July, the day before the Cape Town semi final, the price is R3 598 for a full economy seat, which is 386% up from the current price of R740. Again, SAA's fare on this day is between 45% and 314% more expensive than other domestic carriers.

The minister's reply also comes on the back of a DA survey in March that showed categorically that prices being quoted at the time by SAA were far higher than those of other airlines:

That survey showed the following higher rates were being charged by SAA:



It is clear that SAA have increased their prices during the tournament, presumably because they are hoping to capitalise on foreign travelers who tend to check the prices of South African Airways first. This means that SAA's charging higher prices is probably turning many potential World Cup visitors away, who check up on SAA airfares, and then decide that they cannot afford to visit South Africa!

In short, SAA is damaging our desired brand image as a value for money destination. One of the supposed rationales of state-owned entities is that they deliver important services to the public at rates that ensure that the private sector does not unreasonably price people out of a market. How does the ANC government reconcile this with the fact that SAA is charging far more than any private airline in this country?

There is intense competition between countries who bid for the right to host the FIFA World Cup, not just because of any expected short term benefits during the tournament, but also to enhance the host country's brand image for the foreseeable future and use this to spur economic growth through meaningful increases in tourist numbers. While many tourists will hunt for the most competitively priced flights during the tournament, there will be significant numbers who will be scared off by SAA's prices, particularly on the Cape Town to Johannesburg route around the quarter and semi-finals. In this sense, SAA is undermining one of our key World Cup objectives, which is to brand our country not only as a safe destination, but also a value for money.