Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Tour guides lay complaints over accreditation botch
UP TO 20 tour guides have laid complaints with the Tourism Union of South Africa (Tusa) after losing out in an accreditation botch-up which has left them unable to work.
This comes after the Weekend Argus revealed last week that scores of tour guides had been left without jobs, thanks to a change in accreditation standards which saw graduates of the tourism management diploma at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) left high and dry by national tourism authorities, which axed the institution from an accredited list.
Tour guides were now sitting without work, said Tusa general secretary Joleen du Plessis of the change, which means the CPUT graduates cannot apply to renew their identification cards, as is required every two years.
“Guides are actually the face of the country, but they are at the bottom of the food chain,” Du Plessis said.
One guide, who did not want to be named, completed her course with CPUT’s Graduate Centre for Management in 2003. She had successfully renewed her tourist guide accreditation every two years since then – until now.
The course is no longer accredited by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism as a valid qualification for being a tour guide.
To be accredited, a course must be recognised by the Cathsseta ( Culture, Art, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Education Training Authority).
Her identity card expired yesterday, and she cannot guide without it.
According to this guide, she and her colleagues face fines of up to R1 000 if they work without valid accreditation. Tour operators employing guides who are not accredited can be fined up to R10 000.
“We’re at a loss here until we hear from CPUT,” she said.
All attempts she had made to contact the institution had been met with silence.
“We worked our butts off, after hours,” she said. “Up to 2011 ( the course) was com- pletely acceptable. It’s like saying your matric certificate is no longer valid.
“Can we now be penalised for the fact that Cape Technikon subsequently became CPUT, and that Theta (Tourism, Hospitality and Sports Education and Training Authority) became Cathsseta?”
The cost of her course, which she completed part-time over six months, totalled R3 750. She had also paid fees to renew her accreditation and first aid certificate, in compliance with the Tourism Act.
Du Plessis has been in the tourism industry for 20 years, as a guide, trainer and union leader. When the Theta system was first implemented, she qualified as a trainer under those regulations.
“Five of us in the Western Cape got accreditation. Then it changed to Cathsseta and it was declared null and void, and we had to be retrained. It was a nightmare. The red tape was unbelievable.
“The previous national registrar gave people licences. There was a concession made and it caused a huge mess.”
That concession was contrary to the Tourism Act, and was retracted when the current registrar took over, causing anyone trained under the concession to lose their accreditation.
To become accredited again, all guides affected will have to go through a process called Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), via a Cathsseta- registered provider.
Alushca Ritchie, chief executive of the Cape Tourist Guides Association, said the RPL assessment was inconvenient, and would cost about R750, but was manageable.
The guide could then be issued with a certificate from Cathsseta, and could re-register.
However, “the catch is that Cathsseta are not keeping to their commitment of issuing certificates timeously”.
Ritchie added that institutions such as CPUT were not solely to blame.
“Ideally, we would like to see a meeting being convened with all the relevant parties, in order to decide on a way forward.”