It was a relief for Norbert Rehder, a Cape Town-based freelance tour guide for 32 years, to take a group of tourists around Stellenbosch, in the Cape Winelands. It was his first tour in a year.
Rehder is one of thousands of tour guides across the country who have been shut out of work since March 2020.
A group of tourists moving about the streets of Stellenbosch is reminiscent of when the tourist town buzzed with international visitors in guesthouses and galleries and on wine farms.
Rehder landed this particular tour – a group from Taiwan and Germany – thanks to his ability to converse in German. Not all tour guides have been as lucky.