Henry999, from your link it does indeed indicate that I contacted mind pearl. From the AA link that I used to find the number this information wasn't shown:

http://www.aa.com/i18n/utility/inter...oneContact.jsp

Also, when I rang the number they introduced themselves as American, so I had no idea I was dealing with anyone else.

As an aside, this was the exact response from mindpearl when I last emailed them:

Please note this email is no longer used for AA - South Africa. You may contact +27 21 440 6440 or email [email protected] for more
assistance and they'll be happy to assist.

But bottom line, the method I outline in my last post works if the OP wants to make a booking at ex-SA prices. However, they do charge a $30 (or so) booking fee over the phone. Exchange rate and taxes seemed pretty reasonable too from memory.