BOOKING HEARTBREAK: Agencies seek answers after promised Cape Town Test tickets fail to arrive

Travel agencies and hospitality companies are counting their losses and seeking answers after hundreds of promised tickets for the Springboks-All Blacks second Test went undelivered.

Hundreds of rugby tickets thought to be bought and sold months in advance for the Springboks’ clash against the All Blacks in Cape Town never materialised, leaving travel agencies and hospitality providers as well as supporters scrambling for answers.

Clients had already booked flights, accommodation and hospitality packages for the sold-out clash on 29 August, with some travelling from Zimbabwe and as far away as New Zealand and London.

Numerous companies, including SportPro, Steadfast Africa, C Sports International, Tour d’Afrique and more, had purchased tickets from external suppliers, but they never arrived.

Now, as these affected companies seek refunds and explore legal action, attention has shifted to the ticket supply chain through which several agencies sourced their allocations.

The uncertainty led to backlash against the South African Rugby Union (Saru), with claims that the federation had double-sold tickets or had problems with its ticketing system.

Saru has strongly denied the allegations and has since reported four companies to the South African Police Service (SAPS).

In a statement put out by SportPro, which operates as a specialised auction platform, the company explained to its clients that the firm from which it had bought the tickets, although it does not specify which firm, told it that Saru had “messed up the ticketing” when it moved to its own app.

Daily Maverick contacted SportPro, but it declined to comment further on the matter.

Saru responded in a statement on 29 August that this was “completely untrue”.

In response to questions from Daily Maverick, a Saru spokesperson said that if tickets had been double sold, the issue would have come to light only “in the turnstiles on Saturday”.

Saru further said that those supporters “were not ticket holders” and were “sold a promise that the sellers had no legal right to offer or access to deliver”.

Saru confirmed it had reported Leisure Connexion, SportPro, Steadfast Africa and Resolute Sport to the police.

Saru said the agencies had breached event terms and conditions of sale by re-selling tickets, packaging tickets with other offerings and selling a product they did not own.