The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi wants the Competition Commission to intervene in the pricing of transport and accommodation ahead of the Soccer World Cup, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Monday.
“This is absolutely something we want the Competition Commission to do something definitely about, and they must act decisively now before those unscrupulous employers put up their prices in June and July,” he said.
This follows widespread concerns about the inflation of hotel prices and flights in the run-up to the tournament.
Earlier this month, the Local Organising Committee announced a new round of World Cup ticket sales. Concerns have also been raised with regard to the readiness of fan parks. Only two out of nine municipalities — Johannesburg and Cape Town — have awarded tenders for their parks.
The event looks set to help push the number of travellers to Africa even higher, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, while the Africa Travel and Tourism Association predicted the tournament’s would have an “enormous” effect on tourism.
There have been concerns whether players in the transport and hospitality industries would use the opportunity to exploit fans by inflating normal prices to abnormal levels.
Vavi described those who wanted to get rich quickly by inflating the prices as “short termers”.
He said this could deny locals the opportunity to be part of the soccer spectacle.
The Mail & Guardian recently ran an article in which we asked readers to help us identify discrepencies with regard to the pricing of transport and accommodation facilities. — Sapa and Mail & Guardian reporter