EMPICS Sport

Chelsea's Juan Mata in action. Picture: Stephen Pond/backpagepix

The South African football fans who spent thousands of rand on travel packages to the UK that never materialised are planning to take legal action against a Johannesburg travel agency.

Last week the Daily News reported that Dhanaseelan Naidoo, of Chatsworth, had paid for a trip for himself and his nine-year-old son, Kaylin, through SA Sports Packages to travel to the UK for two English Premier League games.

But when Naidoo arrived, he found that neither his accommodation, nor his tickets for the games had been paid for.

He then had to pay for his own accommodation at a hotel in Manchester – along with 50 other South Africans who had bought the same package.

On Friday, East Coast Radio reported that the owner of SA Sports Packages, Matt Mitchell, had contacted the station, and told them the company had been liquidated and that attorneys were handling the matter.

Since then, more readers have come forward to tell their stories.

On Friday, Brendan Reddy, who spent R46 000 on a trip for himself and his father, went to the travel agency’s offices in Johannesburg. “The security guard there told me they had gone into liquidation and had vacated the premises weeks ago,” he said. “I will be opening a case of fraud against the company. I stand to lose a lot of money for a trip that has been fully paid for, and now these guys have run off.”

Melissa Sewnarain, who paid SA Sports Packages more than R150 000 for a trip for her family, said she had also fallen victim to the “scam”.

The Daily News made many attempts to contact SA Sports Packages, but to no avail.

Arriving back in Durban on Thursday, Naidoo and his son were in high spirits. In spite of having to pay for accommodation and match tickets out of his own pocket, he said he still managed to have a good time.

The bungled trip arrangements did not ruin Kaylin’s dream of seeing his favourite team in person. “It was so exciting, I’m so glad I got to watch them,” he said.

Thami Bolani, spokesman for the National Consumer Forum, said if a company was under liquidation, the customers could lodge their complaints with the attorneys who were handling the matter.