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Parliamentary Editor

CAPE TOWN — Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin yesterday blamed attempts by the national airline, South African Airways (SAA), to compete in the low-cost air travel market for SAA’s financial woes.

The airline has since formed Mango to compete in the no-frills market.

Addressing Parliament yesterday, Erwin said moves to get funding for the beleaguered national carrier were almost complete.

He again did not say whether the injection would come from government or how much it would be. It is estimated that it will be in the region of R4bn, though.

Erwin, piloting the SAA Bill through the National Assembly yesterday, threw his weight behind the creation of low-cost subsidiary Mango, saying SAA was simply doing what competitors such as Comair and British Airways had done.

“The airline industry is volatile and we are in the process of planning the new capital injection,” he said. “This needs to be completed very soon. The process of returning to profitability is on track. There is work to be done but we are moving clearly in the right direction.”

He said that SAA, as the second-oldest commercial airline in the world, was a national asset that had to be preserved. He strongly defended a state bale-out for the airline, saying: “More (airlines) have been topped up than haven’t. This is an exceptionally difficult industry. I think there are probably very few airlines in the world that have not received state support.

“Our objective is to reduce the dependence and return it to profitability. We do have to make it operate more efficiently and to lower its basic cost structure, across the board and not focusing only on employees.”

On the issue of the low-cost end of the market, he said that one of the problems had been that to compete with “the very viable and vibrant low-cost market, SAA had to discount so many fares on its higher-cost airline that the effect on the total airline was negative”.

Erwin also moved to address concerns expressed by some members of Parliament’s public enterprises committee that if portions of the carrier were sold, foreigners could end up controlling the national airline.

“For SA, when we speak of SAA, we are talking about the second-oldest airline in the world. It would be a sad day if we were not to maintain this proud brand and its reputation.

“We should also stress that SAA’s reputation in regard to safety and pilots is outstanding and it ranks as one of the top airlines in the world.”

The SAA Bill, which received the support of the National Assembly, will remove the airline from being part of Transnet and make it an independent, state-owned enterprise reporting directly to the public enterprises department.

The concurrence of the National Council of Provinces and the signature of President Thabo Mbeki are needed to make the bill law.

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Labels: South Africa - Airlines

Business in low-cost air travel appears to have boomed since the airlines concerned embarked on a no-holds tariff war.

Kulula.com announced on Tuesday that it would be replacing its entire fleet of aircraft by the end of 2007 with new Boeing 737-400 aircraft, adding 160 000 additional seats to the market a year.

Rival airline Mango, which sparked off the competition with its low price specials during its launch in November, reports that up to 90 percent of its seats are filled.

At the same time 1time has announced plans to add new routes and increase flights.

"With the efficiency of our new fleet we will have the lowest costs in the industry which will continue to allow us to offer consistently low airfares," said Comair joint chief executive Gidon Novick. Comair operates Kulula.

He said the latest of the new aircraft, bought at R90-million apiece, will arrive from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil this week.

"The new aircraft are significantly more fuel efficient and have more seats meaning we can carry more people more competitively," he said.

The aircraft are secondhand but are being bought rather leased as previously.

Mango spokesperson Hein Kaiser said the airline is "rocking".

"Our January and February figures show a load factor of 85 to 90 percent."

By the end of January, Mango had sold more than 500 000 tickets.

"A lot of our passengers are first-time flyers.

"This shows that Mango has done what it set out to do, which was to get more South Africans flying," Kaiser said.

He said the airline was investigating introducing new routes but said no decisions had been taken.

1time announced it would introduce two new routes by the end of March - a daily direct service between Cape Town and Durban, and weekend flights between Johannesburg and George.

1time will also add a third weekly flight on Thursdays between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, the Johannesburg-Durban route will be increased to seven flights a day, and the Johannesburg-Cape Town route increased to eight flights a day.

This will grow 1time's available seats to 1,5 million for the year and flights will increase to 222 a week.

"We are very pleased with 1time's growth.

"Since we launched nearly three years ago our low fares have dramatically stimulated the domestic air travel market with many first time flyers," said Rodney James, marketing director of 1time. - Sapa
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Labels: South Africa - Airlines

The country's major banks have promised to stop "forcing credit down people's throats".

This comes after concerns about the harassment of consumers with offers of unsolicited credit.

Economists have warned that many South Africans have fallen into a debt trap, with an increasing number of families struggling to meet their monthly credit payments.

More people are falling into arrears on their credit card and mortgage repayments and there has been an increase in company liquidations.

On Thursday, the chief executives of Absa, Standard Bank, Nedcor and First National Bank - which make up the Banking Association - unveiled a code of conduct on how to approach consumers with offers of credit. The emphasis would be on "responsible credit extension".

The code of conduct will not affect companies such as Virgin Money, kulula.com, Edgars, Woolworths, South African Airways and Clicks, which offer credit cards as joint ventures with the banks.

Last year, Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni was approached in an airport lounge by a consultant offering him a credit card. This prompted him to meet the "big four" to convince them to curb credit-card lending, saying it was "madness".

In a statement the banks said the move came in response to public concerns over people being harassed by credit sellers, and over the overselling of credit.

On Thursday, Jacko Maree, the head of Standard Bank and chairman of the Banking Association, said the code came in response to media reports and complaints lodged with the ombudsman.

He said three years ago the public had complained of a non-availability of credit, especially to low-income earners. "Now banks have been forcing credit down people's throats."

Under the new code of conduct, when consultants contact potential customers, they must tell them they are calling about an offer of credit and ask whether they would like to continue the conversation.

If the answer is "no" the consultants must immediately end the call. If customers say "yes" and continue the conversation, the call will be ended at any time if the customer indicates he or she is no longer interested.

In addition, banks will contact customers to offer credit only after they have assessed that they have the ability to repay the account.

According to the latest Reserve Bank Quarterly Bulletin, household debt to disposable income is more than 70 percent - the highest level ever recorded - while household savings as a percentage of disposable income is effectively zero - the lowest level ever recorded in South Africa.

Last month Gabriel Davel, the head of the National Credit Regulator, the new government body set up to control lending institutions, warned that the debt levels of South Africans had risen over the past six months.

"We have a number of cases we are looking at, not just credit cards. We are worried about vehicle contracts with large residual values - for example after five years one still owes as much as 60 percent of a vehicle," he said.

The principles of the new code will remain in force as a minimum standard even after the National Credit Act (NCA) has come into effect in June.

"The NCA reflects the minimum legal requirements for an efficient and responsible credit industry," said managing director of the association Cas Coovadia. "The code is a voluntary effort by the banking industry to set a standard beyond this minimum."

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Labels: South Africa - Economy

Cape Town - Low-cost airline 1time, which many people in the industry forecast would not survive, celebrated its fourth anniversary this week.

It started with one route - between Cape Town and Johannesburg - in February 2004 and now has seven routes. It will add a new route between Johannesburg and George next month.

Rodney James, the marketing and operations director for 1time, said this week that it had found an increasing number of business travellers were using its flights. It also was attracting people who had not flown before.

It was difficult to quantify them because, although the airline had corporate deals with some large companies, in many cases people travelling on business just booked on line like leisure travellers.

James said: "Although they [the business people] may be carrying laptops, many of them don't wear suits any more."

But some were regular customers who travelled more frequently than leisure travellers and made use of 1time's car hire and accommodation partnerships with Avis and the City Lodge group.

Avis and City Lodge offered facilities for discounted booking on 1time's website for passengers who had booked flights.

"I believe some senior executives set an example by flying with us themselves, not only encouraging people lower down in the company to do so.

"Domestic flights in this country are so short that there is an increasing realisation that it is unnecessary to pay so much more to fly business class on a full-service airline."

1time had not been affected by SAA's low-cost airline, Mango, which seemed to be "doing all right with passenger numbers", he said. 1time's passenger loads averaged 80 percent. It had reached its budgeted target for February well before the end of the month.

1time now has a fleet of five MD-80s and two DC-9s.

It has expanded its route network to fly from Johannesburg to Cape Town, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth. It also flies from Cape Town to Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London.
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Labels: South Africa - Airlines

SOMERSET West was the town of choice for the launch on Thursday last week of Cape Town Tourism East's series of member networking functions for 2007. This bodes well for this outlying area of the metropole.

The function also served as the launch of Cape Town Tourism's first tourism barometer - a regional statistical service.

The first tourism barometer, which was launched in partnership with Cape Town Routes Unlimited, is a collated set of statistics and analysis designed to assist all tourism businesses and to help them understand the visitor patterns and the tourism market more effectively.

This quarterly barometer will be available to all members of Cape Town Tourism.

City tourism leaders used the event, held at Chapter II Guesthouse, to share insights regarding the growth and development in emerging geographical markets and members could meet new preferred service providers.

According to Cape Town Tourism marketing manager Cathy Alberts, a recent survey suggested that 99.5 % of visitors agreed that Cape Town is an excellent destination and this means that there is "a lot of opportunity for growth".

Renewed focus?
According to the organisation's latest statistics, the total number of bednights spent by international visitors in the Western Cape in the first quarter of last year was 5,54-million - a 30,6% share of the total number of international visitors in SA.

This represented a growth of 2,7% on the previous period.

The breakdown of statistics does not go beyond the Western Cape and many Helderberg-based tourism businesses will be hoping that the choice of Somerset West, as the location for the first meeting, signals renewed focus from tourism authorities on this area.

Alberts appealed to the members to assist the organisation with this venture, as everybody's input is needed to ensure that the barometer displays a true picture of that is happening in the Eastern area.

The latest tourism statistics can be found on www.capetownroutesunlimited.com/statistics.htm.

This year's first barometer became available on February 15, while the rest follow on May 15, August 15 and November 15.
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Labels: South Africa - Tourism

CAPE TOWN: A South African company has said that it was bidding to build a Formula One race circuit near Cape Town's international airport at an estimated cost of 1 billion rand ($NZ199 million).
David Gant, chief executive of the South African Grand Prix Corporation ,told reporters the project had the backing of the South African government but could be scuttled by land problems.

The municipal and provincial governments as well as the company that runs the airport have not yet released the estimated 58 hectares of land needed to build the 5.7km circuit and a 17,500 spectator grandstand.

Another 175ha also would be have to be secured to develop commercial and industrial parks linked to the track.

"They (Formula One) want to have a grand prix in Africa, specifically Cape Town," Gant said.

"So if we get the land issue sorted out, I'm pretty confident that during the course of this year we will be able to present a viable licence application."

At least one official in Cape Town, one of the hubs of South Africa's booming tourism sector, is supporting the idea of building the circuit, which would accommodate racing cars and motorcycles.

Simon Grindrod, who oversees economic development in the politically-divided city, said he would champion the proposal.

The project, however, is likely to be overshadowed by Cape Town's preparations for the 2010 soccer World Cup, which will be played in South Africa. The city is scrambling to modernise its infrastructure ahead of the prestigious tournament.

Gant noted that government would not have to provide any funding for the Formula One project because it would be underwritten by overseas developers. "I have no doubt that we will be able to source the capital required to build," he said.

Formula One has a history in South Africa dating back to 1962, when a grand prix was held in East London in the Eastern Cape province. Two more such races were held there in 1963 and 1965 before the event was moved to Kyalami near Johannesburg.

The last South African round of the world championship was held at Kyalami in 1993 before disappearing from the Formula One calendar amid sporting boycotts aimed at ending apartheid-era white minority rule in the African nation.

Financial problems ended a brief return to the country in 1992 and 1993, the last race being won by Frenchman Alain Prost.

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Labels: South Africa - Economy

By Moshoeshoe Monare

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has ruffled feathers in the African National Congress's succession race by supporting Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to become the next president.

The controversial former ANC Women's League (ANCWL) president stunned guests at her 70th birthday party on Sunday by openly saying she would lobby women to support Dlamini-Zuma to become the first female president.

However, Madikizela-Mandela on Wednesday said her comments had nothing to do with the ruling party's muddy succession battle.

"The comments are in no way an engagement in the succession debate, but are a reflection of her support for women in politics," Madikizela-Mandela said through a close associate, who did not want to be named.

Interestingly, she chose Dlamini-Zuma over Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the most senior woman leader in the ANC government.

During her address in Midrand on Sunday, Madikizela-Mandela forgot to mention Dlamini-Zuma when she introduced the "distinguished guests", but eulogised about the foreign minister towards the end of the speech, punctuating her remarks with the explosive succession issue.

Although Madikizela-Mandela no longer occupies a powerful position in any ANC structures, she is still considered to be influential.

One of the guests said most senior ANC leaders, such as Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad and Dlamini-Zuma's former husband, presidential hopeful Jacob Zuma, were taken aback by Madikizela-Mandela's comments.

"It took all of us by surprise. She said something that has (now) become taboo in the organisation," said one of the guests, who declined to be named due "to the sensitivity of the matter in the organisation".

Pahad did not return messages left with his aide, while Zuma was not available for comment.

The ANC's chief spokesperson, Smuts Ngonyama, said he did not know anything about Madikizela-Mandela's comments.

Mavivi Mayakayaka-Manzini, the deputy president of the ANCWL, refused to "be engaged" on Madikizela-Mandela's comments but said her organisation had discussed the principles of succession.

Dlamini-Zuma was reportedly the first to be contacted by ANC president Thabo Mbeki to replace Zuma in 2005, but declined, apparently due to family considerations.

However, Dlamini-Zuma denied this months later.

The ANC will choose its next president in December.

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Labels: South Africa - Politics

South African tourism statistics for 2006 show a 14,5 percent increase in tourism arrivals compared with 2005 figures, Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Tuesday.

"What we have achieved together is reflected in the exponential growth of South Africa's tourism industry since our transition to democracy in 1994," Van Schalkwyk told delegates at the African Business Tourism Conference in Sandton.

According to the statistics, South Africa had 765 675 more visitors in the first nine months of 2006 than in the first nine months of 2005.

"Over six million people - 6 055 726 - visited South Africa between January and September last year, suggesting that we are well on track to surpass the annual record that we set in 2005," Van Schalkwyk said in a speech prepared for the conference.

The largest source of growth was from Africa, with an increase of 18,3 percent in arrivals from the African continent.

Van Schalkwyk said there was also strong growth in arrivals from North America, with an increase of 9,7 percent, which represented almost 20 000 more visitors.

There was also a "massive" 42,4 percent increase in visitors from the Russian Federation, 24,1 percent more visitors from Hungary and 17,4 percent more visitors from Finland, he said.

Van Schalkwyk said this showed that South Africa was successful at achieving broader market penetration on the European continent.

He said South Africa had also achieved a 4,5 percent increase in arrivals from Asia, in particular with 17,5 percent more visitors from India and "excellent growth" in arrivals from Japan, Thailand and Singapore.

However, arrivals from China, Malaysia and the Phillipines decreased.

Van Schalkwyk said growth in South African and sub-Saharan African tourism was driving overwhelmingly positive tourism performance on the continent.

"Over the past two years Africa achieved the fastest growth rates of any major region in the world."

However, Van Schalkwyk said South Africa's business tourism sector still needed attention.

"On average, business travellers spend three times more than leisure travellers and up to 40 percent of business travellers return to a destination within five years," he said.

Business tourists currently make up five percent of South Africa's total tourism market, he added. - Sapa
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Labels: South Africa - Transport

The 2010 Soccer World Cup to be staged in South Africa would bring a major revolution to the country's transport system, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Tuesday.

"The 2010 World Cup is a major milestone in our history and marks the beginning of a major revolution in South Africa's transport system," Radebe told an African business tourism conference in Johannesburg.

"For the first time in history, South Africa will have major investments across all transport systems -- passenger rail, (minibus) taxis, buses, and road networks," he said.

Major transport investments allocations included 9 billion rand (1.27 billion US dollars) for the public transport and non-motorized transport infrastructure for 2010.

Additional 5.2 billion rand (732 million dollars) would be used for upgrading airports infrastructure, with 63 billion rand for roads, 7.7 billion rand for renewing minibus taxis, and 5 billion rand for bus and passenger rail systems.

Public transport in South Africa, the first African host of the World Cup, is often described as the Third-World level and has raised concerns over its capability to handle millions of soccer fans from around the world.

Radebe said the benefits of upgrading and the building of infrastructure would last beyond the "final whistle" of the tournament.

He said international tourism arrivals in South Africa were "sky-rocketing" and foreign business tourism arrivals had increased by 30 percent between 2002 and 2005.

While encouraging, the figures also shed a warning light to gear up transport infrastructure and services.

The Airports Company South Africa, which operates the majority of the country's airports, had started a five-year investment program at all major airports with capital expenditure having increased up to 19.3 billion rand, Radebe said.
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Labels: South Africa - Transport

South African low-cost carrier kulula.com is to replace its entire fleet by the end of the year, the airline said on Tuesday.

The new fleet of Boeing 737-400 aircraft will reduce the airline's cost per seat by 8% and allow kulula.com to add 160 000 additional seats into the market per annum, it said in a statement.

In announcing the new fleet of 162-seater aircraft, valued at R90-million each, Comair joint CEO Gidon Novick said: "With the efficiency of our new fleet we will have the lowest costs in the industry, which will continue to allow us to offer consistently low airfares and achieve our goal of having 10% of South Africans flying by 2010."

The new aircraft are significantly more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly than the current fleet.

With their new technology engines and spacious cabin, the aircraft are quieter and more spacious than the older MD82 aircraft.

The current MD82s, which are on lease from Safair, will be phased out as the new aircraft arrive, Novick added.

The latest of the new aircraft will arrive from Rio de Janeiro this week. Initial aircraft purchases will be funded out of Comair's cash resources.
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Labels: South Africa - Airlines

Johannesburg - South Africa's real gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally annualised and adjusted (saa) basis rose by 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006 from a revised 4.5 percent (4.7 percent) in the third quarter of 2006, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday.

Stats SA also reported that GDP was up 5.0 percent in 2006 from the 5.1 percent year-on-year reported in 2005 which was the fastest pace of growth since 1984.

The real growth rate was expected to have increased to 4.8 percent on a quarter-on-quarter saa basis according to a consensus of 14 economists surveyed by I-Net Bridge.

The range of forecasts was from just 4.1 percent q/q to as high as 5.4 percent q/q.

The year-on-year data was factored in at 4.9 percent by most economists, in line with the data released by the Treasury in the budget last week.

Investec economist Annabel Bishop, said that the growth was 'well above expectations'.

The unadjusted real GDP at market prices for the fourth quarter of 2006 increased by 6.1 percent compared with a revised 4.7 percent (4.5) the third quarter of 2006.

The GDP estimates are preliminary, and may routinely be revised, Stats SA added.

The data is used by both the fixed income and equity markets to determine the future direction of interest rates and the pace of companies' earnings growth.

But Bishop said that “the data does not change our view that interest rates will be left unchanged for most of this year, with a possibility of a 50bp cut at the October MPC meeting”.

T-Sec economist Mike Schussler said that the data was very strong and “certainly pushes our GDP for the year past 5 percent”.

“I suspect we are likely to get continued high GDP growth in all sectors of the economy outside of agriculture for the next few quarters.

"I suspect it will be good for the JSE. It should be a bit negative for bonds because it means there is room to increase interest rates. In fact, I am surprised by the GDP growth rate given that rates had increased four times by the time the fourth quarter ended. It should be positive for the rand."

Tebogo Hlabioa, economic analyst at Metropolitan Asset Mangers said the data showed the economy is growing very well.

"You might find that the construction sector and the turnaround in the manufacturing and mining sector had a positive effect," he said - I-Net Bridge

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Labels: South Africa - Economy

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By plane

International Terminal of CPT.

Cape Town International Airport is the second largest airport in South Africa (the largest being in Johannesburg - O R Tambo International). There are several flights daily to Johannesburg, Durban and all other major South African cities, as well as the Namibian cities of Windhoek, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay and other destinations, including Gaborone, Maun and Nairobi. The most used airlines for international flights from Europe, the US and Asia include South African Airways, Lufthansa, British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Malaysian.

Further international flights arrive from Buenos Aires, Doha, Frankfurt, Kuala Lumpur, London, Atlanta and Singapore. In the summer (October-March) several charter airlines operate direct flights from all over Europe to Cape Town. Spare seats are sold with substantial discounts but during Christmas time and New Year prices rises significantly.

Major local airlines include South African Airways, Nationwide, British Airways (Comair) and low-cost airlines Kulula.com, Mango Airlines and 1Time.


By train

The Muizenberg to Simon's Town Metrorail tracks run right along the ocean. Great views.

Cape Town has a few train connections to other cities in South Africa. Cape Town's main train station is located in the city centre, at the corner of Adderley Street and Strand Street. Please take care of your belongings!

A daily train departs for Kimberley (16.5 hours), Johannesburg (25 hours) and Pretoria (27 hours).

Weekly trains leave every Monday for Durban (36.5 hours) via Kimberley (18 hours), Bloemfontein (21 hours) and Pietermaritzburg (34 hours).

Weekly trains leave every Sunday for East London (28 hours).

MetroRail trains are a great way to get between Cape Town and neighbouring towns such as Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Strand, Paarl and through the Southern Suburbs (Claremont, Wynberg, Retreat) or to the beaches at Fish Hoek, Muizenberg and Glencairn. Be careful when travelling by train, especially at night. Use the most crowded first class car and don't stay alone. Make sure to ride first class (called Metro Plus) to get at least some comfort and to enjoy the presence of safety guards.

The train line from Cape Town to Simon's Town is fabulous ; from Muizenberg south to Simon's Town it runs right next to the sea. You can often see whales, and if it's windy you may have sea spray hitting the train windows. For the best views make sure you sit on the east side of the train (the left side as you face away from Cape Town and towards Simon's Town). This route also boasts a moving restaurant coach (called Biggsy's ) that does the return trip from Cape Town to Simon's Town between 2 and 4 times a day (every day except Monday).

Trains to Stellenbosch run every two hours (more or less), but this journey might take a while. Ask at the ticket counter if there is an earlier train you could use, as there are also trains to Stellenbosch starting in Bellville and Eerste River.

By car

Be aware of pedestrians on highways and National Roads!

The vast majority of roads in and around Cape Town are in a very good condition, making travelling by car an easy issue. The danger is not as high as often emphasized by the media, but a good portion of precaution should be taken. Please ask your hotel staff or anyone familiar with the area about where it is safe and where it is not safe

Several major highways start in Cape Town:

* N1 runs north-east, passing Paarl, Bloemfontein and Johannesburg on its way from Cape Town to Harare in Zimbabwe. Also a good choice if you want to go to Kimberley and the northern Drakensberg.

* N2 runs along the East Coast towards the Garden Route, George and Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, through the Transkei up to Durban and Swaziland.

* N7 goes north along the West Coast to the Northern Cape city of Springbok and to Namibia. Also follow it to go to Upington and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

Hiring a car in South Africa is not as expensive as in Europe or many other countries. Petrol is also cheap compared to Europe, but might be a bit more expensive than in the US.

By bus

All major bus companies have Intercity connections from Cape Town, taking you to all bigger cities in South Africa and to Windhoek in Namibia. There might be up to 6 buses a day to certain cities.

The starting point is next to the train station at the corner of Adderley and Strand Street, near the Golden Acre building. Please ask at the nearby tourist information or in your hotel for connections and where your bus is going to leave, as finding your bus can become difficult.

* Greyhound, ☎ +27 (0)83 915-9000, [13].

* Intercape Mainliner, ☎ +27 (0)21 380-4400, [14].

* Translux, [15].

* SA Roadlink, ☎ +27 (0)11 333-2223, [16].

Bus tickets can also be obtained from Computicket.

Cape Town is also on the Baz Bus route.

By boat

Most of the larger cruise lines, such as Princess Cruises offer Cape Town as one of their destinations, but you can also try something different

* RMS St Helena, this passenger/cargo ship is the last working Royal Mail Ship and stops at Cape Town on it's way to St Helena.

Get around by foot

Public transport in Cape Town (and South Africa in general) is not very good. Unless you are staying within walking distance of the beach in Camps Bay (or some other area where everything you want is close by) then you will find it very frustrating not to have your own transport.
[edit] By car

* Avis, Cape Town International Airport, +27 (0)21 934-0330

* Cruise Table Bay Car Hire, 25 Aviation Crescent, Airport City, +27 (0)21 386-7699 (info@cruisetablebay.com)

* Hertz, Cape Town International Airport, +27 (0)21 935-3000

* Click Car Hire is a broker, and will get you a great deal with unlimited mileage and no excess. Visit www.southafrica-carhire.com

Please note that you can't pay for Petrol or Diesel with a credit card, only with cash or a South African bank issued 'Garage' card.

By metered taxi

Metered taxis are controlled by the city council and can be considered safe and reliable. The price per kilometer is around R8-R10 and can often be read at the taxis side door. You can also set a fixed price with the driver, especially when going to a far away destination.

Please note that there is only one official taxi company at the airport. But you might as well ask your hotel to pick you up, as pick up service are provided by nearly all hotels, guesthouses and so on.

By minibus taxi

Minibus taxis are used widely by locals but tourists are usually discouraged from using them. They cover most of the Cape Town Metropolitan Area and are very cheap, however they can get very crowded and are definitely less safe than metered taxis due to their dangerous driver behavior.

Some minibus taxi operators have seen the value in the tourist market and are starting to provide safe and legal alternatives to the traditional minibus taxis. They are more expensive than the traditional minibus taxis, but still far cheaper than metered taxis. No guarantee you'll get to your destination directly, but it is safe, fun, and all the drivers are characters. Meet supermodels going to their photoshoots or artists going to their studios. During busy times of day (or year) you may have to wait a while and there is no booking ahead!

* Rikkis Taxis, 43 New Church Street, ☎ +27 (0)21 418-6713 (info@rikkis.co.za). The safe and legal taxi service

By bus

There is a network of public buses (Golden Arrow buses) that offer cheap connections for example from the city centre to the Waterfront. They run mostly during the day. It is better to ask the driver where the bus is going, to make sure you wont end up somewhere else.
[edit] By scooter or cycle

You can also hire a scooter or a small motorbike. A number of places in the city offer this service and it is a great way to be mobile and save over hiring a car.

* LDV Biking, 13D Kloof Nek Road, ☎ +27 (0)83 528-0897 (mail@ldvbiking.co.za), [22]. The recommended place to rent a scooter or motorbike. From about R100 to R170 per day depending on how many days you are renting for and the time of year.

Unless you love the pain of cycling up and down mountains while dodging city traffic on narrow streets, cycling for transportation is not recommended. However, cycling in the area is very popular.

By motorbike

* Harley Davidson Cape Town, ☎ +27 (0)21 424-3990 (rentals@harley-davidson-capetown.com), [23]. Explore the cape on the back of a Harley. From R650 per day.

By train

There is a system of public train transport, although it is mainly used by locals. Operator Metrorail has done a lot to increase safety and comfort on board the trains, but they still do not live up to European standards. So make sure to buy a first-class ticket. Cape Town station is situated in the city centre on the corner of Adderley Street and Strand Street and there is a reasonable suburban network of lines with more than 80 stations. A nice scenic ride can be done south to Simon's Town, all along the east coast of the Cape Peninsula. Stick to the Simon's Town line and make sure you are not on the train after 18h30 or when it is dark.

Labels: South Africa - General

Value for money, service excellence and the quality, variety and flexibility of an incentive programme are the most important factors coming into play when a company decides whether to reward top-performing employees with a world class breakaway in the Western Cape or not.

These are the results of a survey on the incentive tourism sector in the Western Cape, recently commissioned by Cape Town Routes Unlimited, the official tourism destination marketing organisation for Cape Town and the Western Cape. Incentives are first class, highly innovative and truly magical holidays or breakaways used by corporate companies to reward employees for outstanding performances. The international incentive sector is an important growth market for the Western Cape, and an essential part of its business events sector, that delivers a significant economic contribution to the province.

Cape Town Routes Unlimited appointed the University of Stellenbosch to conduct the study to investigate the size, scope and nature of operation of the international incentive sector in the Western Cape. Inbound tour operators, destination management companies and accommodation providers were assessed for the 2005/2006 financial year.

The survey showed that incentive providers in the Western Cape mainly get their business from Western Europe (specifically Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia, Austria, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands); North America (specifically the USA and Canada); and Latin America (specifically Chile). Among the respondents no incentive business was recorded for Asia, the Middle East or the Oceania region. Incentive business came predominantly from the pharmaceutical, banking or finance and telecommunications sectors. The budget for an incentive programme ranged from R5 000 to R15 000.

The Western Cape lost business to destinations such as Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Rio de Janeiro, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Turkey, Dubai, Thailand and New Zealand, because of too expensive air tickets and hotels, lack of airline capacity and because other countries had better exchange rates.

“It is critical that we ensure that we have the perfect package for the business tourist. In Cape Town and the Western Cape we know that we have what it takes to offer incentive tourists an exceptional travel experience. But this is a very specific and selective market, and we need to back up our travel experience with brilliant service standards, excellent organisation, great value for money and think out of the box when it comes to compiling our incentive programmes,” says Sheryl Ozinsky, Chief Executive of Cape Town Routes Unlimited.

According to the Western Cape incentive service providers that participated in the survey, other important factors playing a role when corporate companies make up their minds on where to send their employees, include the safety of the destination, airline seating capacity, availability of competitive airfares, meeting facilities, variety of accommodation options, and the climate of the destination.

Cape Town and the Western Cape attracts nearly 1.6 million international tourists per year (SA Tourism, 2005). One out of ten international tourists is a business tourist.

Meetings Africa

Business events like conferences, meetings, exhibitions and incentives have become an integral part of tourism development the world over, and the Western Cape is no exception. To keep up with the latest developments and market the destination Cape Town Routes Unlimited is sending a team to Johannesburg next week to attend Meetings Africa, the continent’s top business tourism exhibition.

Meetings Africa, will be held from 28 February to 1 March 2007 and Cape Town Routes Unlimited will host a special ‘five senses’ breakfast on 28 February 2007 for approximately a hundred international and domestic hosted buyers and media, inspiring them to see, taste, smell, hear and feel some of Cape Town and the Western Cape’s most exquisite tourism offerings. A few hosted buyers and media from countries such as Germany and China will be able to experience these first hand when they undertake familiarisation trips to the province immediately after Meetings Africa.

In their effort to create market access for tourism SMMEs and to mainstream emerging entrepreneurs, Cape Town Routes Unlimited and the Tourism Enterprise Programme will assist four business tourism entrepreneurs from the Western Cape to attend Meetings Africa for the second consecutive year. Together with eight other exhibitors and the Cape Craft & Design Institute they will take part in a Western Cape exhibition at Meetings Africa. The entrepreneurs will also attend a Business Tourism Conference a day before Meetings Africa starts.

Cape Town will further play host to a component of the Society of Incentive & Travel Executives’ (SITE) Executive Summit running concurrently with Meetings Africa.

Article from http://www.traveldailynews.com/
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Labels: South Africa - Tourism

In response to the recent spate of criticism aimed at the lack of transformation at Super 14 level , there was at first visible annoyance from Saru, then acknowledgement that there is a problem and then an unexpected public lashing of provinces by the Saru president for their lack of fiscal discipline and of course, transformation.

Like the annual focus (around this time) on transformation in rugby (or the lack thereof) and Saru then blaming this on the provinces (in many instances rightly so) . But nothing new or different has emerged from the latest outcry.

I wonder how soon this episode will be forgotten and everyone will get back to business as usual. The franchises have been verbally chastised and they have yet again been asked to pay serious attention to transformation.

What are missing from this picture though, are clear and definite binding agreements on transformational guidelines and targets for the provinces, specifically those ones that do not demonstrate any serious commitment to transforming their respective teams and management structures.

This seems to be the logical next step or should be the first step in my view. However nothing has been forthcoming from Saru on this matter. The best we had thus far is an "appeal" from the president to provinces to shape up!

Some might want to argue that the recently completed rugby transformation charter contains a definite strategy to obtain very specific transformational objectives. On the face of it, it is indeed an impressive document.

However the successful achievement of such targets is dependent on the availability and accessibility of the necessary resources for implementation. These include adequate human capital with the skills and knowledge to implement the specific action plans (which does not form part of the charter but which must be put in place by the respective provinces), as well as financial resources to provide infrastructure such as transport and equipment for players.

Unrealistic objectives

Talk to any game development manager/officer in the provinces and they will tell you that even the financially better-of provinces will struggle to achieve the unrealistic objectives set out in the charter.

The conundrum Saru faces is that the majority of its provinces are in debt, have inadequate personnel available and use the bulk of their income (of which most is derived from Saru through the Sanzar broadcast rights payments) to contract professional players as opposed to investing it in the development of local rugby structures and transformation projects in the province.

Ironically, the provinces with the biggest debt and least self-sustaining incomes insist on having a professional structure. So, while the objectives of the rugby transformation charter are widely accepted as the route Saru must follow to secure the future survival of the game in South Africa, what is absent is HOW this is going to be achieved by the respective provincial units.

While successful transformation requires a mind shift among traditional coaches, officials and administrators, it is not all that is needed. Successful transformation requires a realignment of the rugby budget in line with the transformational imperatives identified by Saru, with committed buy-in from its provincial affiliates.

It is therefore a requirement that the provincial and national leadership of rugby stop paying lip service to transformation, but genuinely advance the need for it.

Saru must put its money where its mouth is. The organisation must re-align its structures so that there can be genuine delivery at grassroots as well as higher levels of the game. It can be achieved with proper funding of the transformation imperative, clear objectives for representivity and definite penalties for non-compliance.

Perhaps the estimated R40m rumoured to be forthcoming from the IRB after the 2007 World Cup tournament, can be put to better use for this purpose.

Article from http://www.news24.com/
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Labels: South Africa - Sport

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhcsjhtUosY



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Labels: South Africa - Entertainment