Terms & Conditions

1.       The Whistleblower House Website is owned and operated by The Whistleblower House NPC (Registration Number: 2021/717060/08), a company with limited liability and duly incorporated in terms of the Companies Act 71 of 2008, with its registered address at 1003 Otto du Plessis Drive, Big Bay, Cape Town, South Africa (hereinafter referred to as “the website owners”)

 

2.       These terms and conditions (hereinafter referred to as “the terms”) constitute, for the purposes of the Agreement, the conditions of usage and service of The Whistleblower House Website, and or any other affiliated websites, (hereinafter referred to as “the website”) and the agreement between the website owners and the user for use of the website and associated services developed, provided, and managed by the website (hereinafter referred to as “users”).

 

3.       The website owners reserve the right to effect, in their sole discretion, amendments to the terms from time to time. Users will not be informed of any amendments and accept that it is their duty to frequently read through the terms, in order to stay abreast of any changes thereto.

 

4.       These terms serve as a binding agreement between the website owners and the users of the website and/or benefactors of its services.

 

5.       Definitions:

 

1.               Agreement: means this Agreement, regarding the facilitation of services to the user, by the website owners, through its website and other related websites, and includes the website owners:
   1.           Privacy Policy;
   2.           Disclaimer;
   3.           Copyright Notice; and

any such additional terms or notices contained on the website.

2.               Account: means the registered account held by a User, administrator, advertiser, or Support services provider on the website;
3.               Content: means any data including official statistics and or images as provided to, or hosted by, the website;
4.               Device: means the mobile phone, terminal, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer or any other electronic, battery or solar operated device used by the User to gain access to the website;
5.               Service Provider: means any service provider which is not a subsidiary of the website owners.
6.               Services: means any service provided by the website owners and/or the service providers;
7.               Smart Device: means any device integrated with the app that can connect, share data, and interact with the User;
8.               User: means any individual that uses, or has registered to use, the website;
9.               User Account: means the registered account associated with a user who has provided the website owner with its information, and that is held on the website owners database;
10.           Website Owners: means The Whistleblower House NPC (Registration Number: 2021/717060/08), a company with limited liability and duly incorporated in terms of the Companies Act 71 of 2008, with its registered address at 1003 Otto du Plessis Drive, Big Bay, Cape Town, South Africa

 

6.       Interpretation

 

1.               The headings of the clauses in this Agreement are for the purpose of convenience and reference only and shall not be used in the interpretation of, nor modify nor amplify, the terms of this Agreement nor any clause thereof.

 

2.               In this Agreement, unless a contrary intention clearly appears:

 

1.           words importing:

 

1.     the male gender includes the female gender;

 

2.     the singular includes the plural and vice versa; and

 

3.     natural persons include created entities (corporate or non-corporate) and vice versa;

 

2.           expressions defined in this Agreement shall bear the same meanings in the Annexures (if and or where applicable) to this Agreement unless specifically defined in the Annexures;

 

3.           where figures are referred to in numerals and in words, if there is any conflict between the two, the words shall prevail;

 

4.           any reference to a Party includes a reference to the Party’s authorised representatives, employees, agents or contractors;

 

5.           when any number of days is prescribed same shall, unless otherwise specifically stated, be reckoned exclusively of the first and inclusively of the last day, unless the last day falls on a day which is not a Business Day, in which case the last day shall be the next succeeding Business Day;

 

6.           where words have been defined in the body of this Agreement, such words shall, unless otherwise required by the context, have the meanings so assigned to them throughout this Agreement; and

 

7.           where any provision contemplates a notice to be given or Agreement to be reached between the Parties, such notice or Agreement shall, unless expressly provided otherwise, be made in writing.

 

7.       Acceptance of Terms

 

1.               The User agrees to be bound by these Terms and Conditions and by agreeing to such the User declares that he or she is legally competent by law applicable to the User to accept, agree to and or enter into this Agreement.

 

2.               The User’s continued use of the website and Services, in the event of an amendment of these Terms and Conditions, will constitute the User’s acceptance of, and agreement to, such amendment. The User will be entitled, if not in agreement with an amendment, to withdraw from the relationship with the website owners.

 

8.      Use of the website and services

    

   1.               The website owners grant the user a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the website and Services via a mobile device, telephone, terminal, computer, and other devices.

 

2.               The User may not use or utilise any part of the website or its Services in contravention of any applicable Law and or Regulation/s.

 

9.       Third Party
    

The use of the website or service provided by a third party to the User including but not limited to the user’s local mobile- or Wi-Fi- or internet service provider will, despite any conditions under which the service provider is providing such services to the User, be subject to these terms and conditions.

 

10.   Intellectual Property Rights

 

1.           All copyright, trademarks, patents and other intellectual property rights in any material or content (including without limitation software, data, applications, information, text, photographs, music, sound, videos, graphics, logos, symbols, artwork, and any other material or moving images) contained in, or accessible via the app or services, is either owned by the website owners, or has been licensed to a third party by the rights owner(s) for use as part of the website services.

 

11.   User Account Information

 

1.           The User will provide true, accurate, current, and complete information when registering for an account on the website.

 

2.           The user will further continue to update the information when requested, and whenever such information is no longer current and accurate.

 

3.           The User is and will remain at all-time responsible for all actions, direct, indirect and or incidental to and or as a result of access to or use of the website, or services via the user account, independently of whether the access was made by the user or by a third party.

 

4.           If the user’s device is stolen, or the subject of unauthorised use, it remains responsible for all charges that may be charged to the account.

 

12.   Submission of information and requests via website portals

 

1.           The User will provide true, accurate, current, and complete information when making any submission(s) via the website portal(s).

 

2.           The User acknowledges that:

 

1.       Information provided by the User to the Whistleblower House through its website and associated portals are factually true and accurate;

 

2.       That any dates or timelines provided by the User is a factually correct recollection of events; and

 

3.       Copies of documentation provided by the User are indeed true copies of the documentation in the actual possession of the User.

 

3.           The Whistleblower House reserves its right to suspend and/or cancel any services provided to a User upon finding out that misrepresentations on any of the above listed points had been made by the User.

 

13.   No Unlawful or Prohibited Use

 

1.           The User expressly acknowledges and agrees to use the website and/or service solely for lawful non-commercial purposes.

 

2.           The User may not:
   1.     use and or perform any action on or through use of the website or service for any unlawful purpose;
   2.     intercept or monitor, damage or modify any communication which is not intended for use purposes by the user;
   3.     send any unsolicited commercial communication not permitted by applicable law,
   4.     expose any third party to material which is offensive, harmful to minors, indecent or otherwise objectionable, and
   5.     interfere with any other party’s use of the website and/or services.
3.           The User, may not use any part of the website in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the website owner’s server (“the server”), or the network(s) connected to the server.

 

4.           The website owners have the sole and exclusive right to, at any time, terminate any service provided to the user, if they interpret the use thereof to be, in any way:

 

1.             fraudulent;
2.             criminal;
3.             unethical
4.            in violation of the website owners’ rights as stipulated in this agreement; or
5.            abusive or insulting towards the website owners or staff.

 

14.   Non-Disparagement

 

1.           For purposes of this clause, disparagement means to include any negative, or perceived negative, remarks or behaviour made, or distributed by the User, in respect of the website and/or its owners, which can reasonably and objectively be regarded as defamatory, insulting, abusive, slanderous, false, a misrepresentation of a true state of affairs or threatening in any manner.

 

2.           The User undertakes not to display any behaviour that may be regarded as disparagement as per the above definition.

 

3.           The website owners, its employees and service providers will not tolerate any disparagement or similar behaviour directed at them and will remain in their right to take such necessary legal and other remedial steps to correct such actions by a User.

 

4.           The website owners, its employees and service providers will remain in their right to suspend and/or cancel any services provided to a User should they be reasonably and objectively guilty of such behaviour.

 

5.           This clause also applied to the User acting out in a physical manner against the website owners, its employees and service providers in any manner that may be reasonably and objectively perceived as threatening, physically harmful, stalking or any other physical acts of harm and/or intimidation. The User undertakes not to exhibit the behaviours as listed herein.

 

15.   No Warranties

 

1.           The website Owners do not make any express warranty regarding the website or services and disclaim any implied warranty, including any warranty of success, merchantability, satisfactory quality, or fitness for a particular purpose; however, the website owners shall endeavour to operate the website with minimum disruptions.

 

2.           The app Owners cannot and does not guarantee that the website will always function without disruptions, delay or other imperfections and the website owners may choose not to provide service to areas at its sole discretion.

 

3.         In the event that the user requires the services of the website owner and/or a third party service provider, the website owner makes no guarantee that such services will successfully provide and that the user’s request will be successfully resolved.

 

16.   Service Suspension/Interruption

 

1.           The website owners are entitled, without any liability, to refuse, restrict, limit, suspend the website, or its services, or any part thereof, without any notice to the user for the repair, improvement, and/or upgrade of the service at any time.

 

2.           The website and its services, unless indicated otherwise by the website owners, are for non-commercial use by the user. All and any commercial use, by the user, not deemed as consumer usage will lead to immediate termination of Service.

 

17.   Payment & Rates (Registered Users Only – Excluding advertisers and listed supporters)

 

The website is completely free of charge and for use by all users of the public with access thereto.

 

18.   Limitation of Liability

 

1.           The website owners will not be liable for:
   1.          any acts or omissions of another service provider, as a result of information provided on the website;
   2.          any equipment failure or modifications;
   3.          service outages or for service limitations or interruptions;
   4.          any accidents or incidents which result from the use of the website or any of its Services by the User or any other person;
   5.          any direct, indirect, incidental, punitive or consequential damages including inter alia lost profits, other economic loss, death, injuries to persons or property, any losses due to fraudulent behaviour, misuse of information and other criminal activities that are directly, indirectly or coincidently associated with any website, service, representation, offer, product or device, provided directly or indirectly, as part of the package (the app or Services) offered to the User so arising from the use of the website or services by the User and the User hereby specifically indemnifies the website owners  against any claims and or legal actions flowing or resulting from such damages.
2.           By using the website, you accept any and all security risks related to data on the internet. Therefore, the website owners make no warranty, express, implied or otherwise that we can or will be able to guarantee that the website will work 100% of the time, and that it is 100% secure from external threats.

19.   Time and Indulgence

 

1.           No latitude, extension of time or other indulgence which may be given or allowed by the website owners to the user in respect of the performance of any obligation hereunder or the enforcement of any right arising from this Agreement is binding unless confirmed in writing, and no single or partial exercise of any right by the website owner shall under any circumstances be construed to be an implied consent by the website owner or operate as a waiver or a novation of, or otherwise affect any of the website owners’ rights in terms of or arising from this Agreement or estop the website owner from enforcing, at any time and without notice, strict and punctual compliance with each and every provision or terms hereof.

 

20.   Applicable Law

 

This Agreement shall be governed by and be construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and the Parties hereby agree and submit to the jurisdiction of the South African courts.

 

21.   Severability

 

1.           If any provision or term of this agreement, including this clause, shall be held wholly or partly invalid, illegal, or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever, then those clauses, provisions or terms shall be deemed severable from the remaining clauses, provisions or terms of this agreement and shall in no way affect the validity, legality, or enforceability of the remainder of the agreement.

 

22.   Entire Agreement

 

These general Terms and Conditions, along with the Terms of Service, Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, and Copyright Notice, shall be considered as the entire agreement between the user and website owner.

 

23.   Privacy Policy

 

For purposes of the Privacy Policy the following sections will apply:

 

1.           By accepting these terms and conditions, you, the user, also accepts the website’s privacy policy, terms of service, and all other related documents contained on the website.

 

2.           By submissions of a request for assistance via the website and/or associated portals, the user consents to the website owners conducting thorough background checks prior to assisting the user with the referral to third party service providers. The user acknowledges that the background check may be intrusive and/or invasive, and consents thereto by inserting their details into the contact form or onboarding process.

 

3.           Please read this Privacy Policy carefully, and feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding its content. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and made a part of Terms & Conditions (“T&C’s”). Terms not defined herein shall have the meaning set forth in this Terms & Conditions. You may decline to submit any information through the Service, in which case we may not be able to provide our Service to you.