Thousands throng for SWC tickets

Johannesburg - Fears that 100 000 less foreign visitors might visit South Africa for the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup than forecast were eased on Thursday.

That's because thousands thronged ticket kiosks in a bid to snag seats to the tournament in terms of its fifth and final 'over-the-counter' sales stage.

Hundreds of spectator hopefuls snaked around buildings near Fifa's ticket office in the Isle of Sandton, off Rivonia road, in an effort to swoop on the plum seats.

In terms of this round of ticket sales, Fifa has reserved a limited number of seats for the opening game in which Bafana Bafana face off against Mexico, and the final itself. Only 300 seats were made available for the final.

Mohamed Dadabhay led the queue in the Isle of Sandton, having camped overnight. He left the building jubilantly clutching 30 tickets, including seats for the opening and final games.

"It feels like we're already at the game," said another punter who, like Dadabhay, had queued overnight but had maintained a vigil on a family shift system.

There were high spirits and tired bodies, but the atmosphere was electric and occasionally hostile as the odd scuffle broke out. Only five applicants were allowed access to the ticket hall at a time.

Some complained of bad organisation and traffic was disrupted in Sandton as ticket applicants hazarded crossing the busy Rivonia Road to get to the office. (See video box to view the story).

No-fuss procedure

Buying a ticket is a simple affair: applicants, once admitted to the ticket office hall, are asked to take a numbered slip and proceed to the ticket collection counter.

They can then choose the game and seating and may opt to collect the ticket at a later stage or leave with the valuable item on site.

An ID book or the paying credit card needs to be produced for applicants wanting to collect their tickets at a later stage.

- Fin24.com