Tour guides are governed by the Tourism Act which states that all guides need to be registered with their provincial tour guide registrar.

In order to do this, guides need to submit certified copies of various documents, including their ID, relevant First Aid certificate and so on. There is also a registration fee of R240.00 pp.

Guides also need to provide a copy of their Theta assessment, certifying them as competent to act as tourist guides in their specific discipline, for e.g. mountain walking, scuba diving, swiftwater guiding and so. At present, it is not possible for paddling guides to comply with this rule due to problems within the Theta system itself but we are working towards resolving these and guides will be able to be assessed soon. Andrew Kellett and Hugh du Preez are already Theta registered assessors.