IN TERMS OF SECTION 11(3) OF THE ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSACTIONS (ECT) ACT 25 OF 2002, THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS ARE BINDING AND ENFORCEABLE AGAINST ALL PERSONS THAT ACCESS BEE NOW’S B-BBEE WEBSITE, BEE NOW’S B-BBEE ONLINE TOOLKIT, OR ANY PART THEREOF. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS YOU MUST LEAVE BEE NOW’S B-BBEE WEBSITE IMMEDIATELY, AS FURTHER USE WILL AUTOMATICALLY BIND YOU TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION
1. “BEE NOW’S” means the domain and its functions, the South African Black Economic Empowerment Verification Institute, its employees, and the website technology service providers
2. “BEE Bow website” means BEE NOW’S B-BBEE Website located at http://www.beenow.co.za and referenced by www.beenow.co.za and includes any part or element thereof, and specifically includes BEE NOW’S Online B-BBEE Toolkit web application, which use is offered under license by the terms of this agreement;
3. “User” means any person who enters or uses BEE NOW’S B-BBEE Website or BEE NOW’S Online B-BBEE Toolkit, notwithstanding the fact that such a person only visited the home page of BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website;
4. References herein to the singular include the plural and vice versa; and
5. Notwithstanding the fact that hyperlinks in these terms and conditions to copyright notices and legislation
6. should be deemed part of these terms and conditions in terms of section 11 of the ECT Act, the fact that
7. some or all of the hyperlinks may be non-operational, shall not play a role in determination of the validity and interpretation of these terms and conditions.
1. GENERAL
BEE NOW’S provides B-BBEE regulatory oversight, and its agents provide under license the technology and
infrastructure, services and solutions used in BEE NOW’S B-BBEE Website and BEE NOW’S B-BBEE Online Toolkit web application.
2. ALLOWED USE AND LICENSE
2.1. BEE NOW’S licenses the User to view, download and print the content of BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website, provided that such content is used for personal, educational and/or non-commercial purposes only;
2.2. Content from BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website shall not be used or exploited by Users for any commercial and non-private purposes in the absence of prior written consent of BEE NOW’S;
2.3. Users may only access and use BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website for lawful purposes;
2.4. The caching of BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website shall only be allowed if:
2.4.1. The purpose of the caching is to make the onward transmission of the content from BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website more efficient;
2.4.2. The cached content is not modified in any manner whatsoever;
2.4.3. The cached content is updated at least every 12 (twelve) hours; and
2.4.4. The cached content is removed or updated when so required by BEE NOW’S.
2.5. If any User uses content from BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website in breach of the provisions detailed herein:
2.5.1. BEE NOW’S reserves the right to claim damages from the User;
2.5.2. BEE NOW’S reserves the right to institute criminal proceedings against the User; and
2.5.3. BEENOW shall not be liable, in any manner whatsoever, for any damage, loss or liability that resulted from the use of such content by the User or any third party who obtained any content from the User.
2.6. Hyperlinks to BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website from any other source shall be directed at the home page of BEE NOW’S website. BEE NOW’S shall not be liable, in any manner whatsoever, for any damage, loss or liability that resulted from the use of content from BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website, if such content was accessed through a hyperlink not directed at the home page of BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website. Persons that wish to link to content beyond the home page of BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website shall do so at their own risk and indemnify BEE NOW’S against any loss, liability or damage that may result from the use of content from BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website, if such content was accessed through a hyperlink not directed at the home page of BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website.
2.7. No person may frame BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website, in any manner whatsoever, without the prior written consent of ;
2.8. Apart from bona-fide search engine operators and use of the search facility provided on BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website by Users, no person may use or attempt to use any technology or applications (including web
crawlers or web spiders) to search or copy content from BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website for any purposes, without the prior written consent of BEE NOW’S; and
2.9. All licenses and/or permissions granted in terms of this clause 2 are provided on a non-exclusive and nontransferable basis and may be terminated or cancelled by BEE NOW’S at any time without giving reasons therefore.
3. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND DOMAIN NAME USE
All intellectual property on BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website, including but not limited to content, trademarks, domain names, patents, design elements, software, databases, text, graphics, icons and hyperlinks are the property of or licensed to BEE NOW’S or its agents and as such, are protected from infringement by domestic and international legislation and treaties. Subject to the rights licensed to the User in clause 2, all other rights to intellectual property on BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website are expressly reserved.
4. SOFTWARE AND EQUIPMENT
It is the responsibility of the User to acquire and maintain, at his/her own expense, the computer hardware,
software, lines and access accounts required to access the Internet and BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website and/or download content from this website.
5. DISCLOSURES REQUIRED BY SECTION 43 OF THE ECT ACT
Access to the services, content, software and content downloads available from BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website is classified as “electronic transactions” in terms of the ECT Act and therefore Users have the rights detailed in Chapter 7 of the ECT Act and BEE NOW’S has the duty to disclose the following information:
5.1. The full name and legal status of the website owner: Department of Trade and Industry (BEE NOW’S);
5.2. VAT registration number: Not Applicable
5.3. The website address of BEE NOW’S website is: http://beenow.co.za.
5.4. Membership of self-regulatory or accreditation bodies: Not Applicable
5.5. Alternative dispute resolution: Subject to urgent and/or interim relief, all disputes regarding:
5.5.1. access to BEE NOW’S website;
5.5.2. the inability to access BEE NOW’S website;
5.5.3. the services and content available from BEE NOW’S website; or
5.5.4. these terms and conditions shall be referred to arbitration in terms of the expedited rules of the
Arbitration Foundation of South Africa and such arbitration proceedings shall be conducted in Pretoria
in English. The arbitration ruling shall be final and the unsuccessful party shall pay the costs of the
successful party on a scale as between attorney and own client.
5.6. The costs associated with the access and use of BEE NOW’S website, including BEE NOW’S self assessment calculator, but specifically excluding BEE NOW’S Management Information System and/or any pay transactions optionally entered into by the User: Free;
5.7. Cooling-off period: In terms of the operation of section 42(1)(d) of the ECT Act, the cooling-off provisions of the ECT Act do not apply to this web site; and
5.8. Users may lodge complaints concerning BEE NOW’S website at support@beenow.co.za. Users hereby assign the copyright in such complaints to BEE NOW’S and understand that BEE NOW’S may use, disclose and publish such complaints and is furthermore under no legal duty to answer, address or resolve such complaints.
6. CHANGES AND AMENDMENTS
6.1. BEE NOW’S expressly reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to do any of the following, at any time without prior notice:
6.2. change these terms and conditions;
6.3. change the content and/or services available from BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website;
6.4. discontinue any aspect of BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website or service(s) available from BEE NOW’S website; and/or
6.5. change the software and hardware required to access and use BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website.
7. PRIVACY
7.1. BEE NOW’S shall take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information of Users and for the purpose of this clause, “personal information” shall be defined as detailed in the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA);
7.2. BEE NOW’S may electronically collect, store and use, amongst other, the following personal information of Users:
7.2.1. name and surname;
7.2.2. contact details;
7.2.3. non-personal browsing habits and click patterns;
7.2.4. e-mail address; and
7.2.5. IP address.
7.2.6. Information pursuant to the measurement of B-BBEE as facilitated by BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website and the BEE NOW’S B-BBEE Online Toolkit
7.3. BEE NOW’S collects, stores and uses the abovementioned information for the following purposes:
7.3.1. communicate requested information to the User;
7.3.2. registration and / or authentication of Users; and
7.3.3. to compile non-personal statistical information about browsing habits, click-patterns, access to BEE NOW’S
B-BBEE website and consolidated B-BBEE information;
7.4. Information detailed above is provided voluntarily by the User.
7.5. BEE NOW’S may collect, maintain, save, compile, share, disclose and sell any information collected from users subject to the following provisions:
7.5.1. BEE NOW’S shall not disclose personal information from Users unless the User consents thereto;
7.5.2. BEE NOW’S shall disclose information without the User’s consent only through due legal process; and
7.5.3. BEE NOW’S may compile, use and share any information that does not relate to any specific individual; and BEE NOW’S owns and retains all rights to non-personal statistical information collected and compiled by BEE NOW’S.
8. HYPERLINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES
8.1. BEE NOW’S may provide hyperlinks to websites not controlled by BEE NOW’S (target sites) and such links do not imply any endorsement, agreement on or support for the content of such target sites; and
8.2. BEE NOW’S does not editorially control the content on such target sites and shall not be liable, in any manner whatsoever, for the access to, inability to access or content available on or through such target sites.
9. SECURITY
9.1. BEE NOW’S and its agents have taken all reasonable steps to secure the content of BEE NOW’S website and database and
the information provided by and collected from Users from unauthorised access and/or disclosure.
However, BEE NOW’S does not make any warranties or representations that content shall be 100% safe and secure;
9.2. Although BEE NOW’S encrypt and digitally authenticate access to certain parts of BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website and BEE NOW’S B-BBEE online Toolkit, BEE NOW’S is under no legal duty to encrypt any content or communications from and to BEE NOW’S website and is also under no legal duty to provide digital authentication of any page on the BEE NOW’S website;
9.3. Users may not deliver or attempt to deliver, whether on purpose or negligently, any damaging code, such as computer viruses, to BEE NOW’S website or the server and computer network that support BEE NOW’S website;
9.4. Notwithstanding criminal prosecution, any person who delivers any damaging code to BEE NOW’S website, whether on purpose or negligently, shall, without any limitation, indemnify and hold BEE NOW’S harmless against any and all liability, damages and losses BEE NOW’S and its agents may suffer as a result of such damaging code;
9.5. Users may not develop, distribute or use any device to breach or overcome the security measures of BEE NOW’S website and BEE NOW’S reserves the right to claim damages any and all persons concerned with a security failure or breach; and
9.6. Any User who commits any of the offences detailed in sections 85 to 88 of the ECT Act shall,
notwithstanding criminal prosecution, be liable for all resulting liability, loss or damages suffered and/or
incurred by BEE NOW’S and its agents.
10. DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
10.1. Subject to the provisions of sections 43(5) and 43(6) of the ECT Act, if applicable, and as far as allowed by law, BEE NOW’S (including its employees, suppliers, Internet service providers, partners, affiliates and agents and subcontractors covered by principle contract with BEE NOW’S) shall not be liable for any damage, loss or liability of any nature incurred by whomever and resulting from:
10.1.1. access to BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website;
10.1.2. access to websites linked to BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website;
10.1.3. inability to access BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website;
10.1.4. inability to access websites linked to BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website;
10.1.5. content available on BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website;
10.1.6. services available from BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website;
10.1.7. downloads and use of content from BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website; or
10.1.8. any other reason not directly related to BEE NOW’S, or its agents’, gross negligence.
10.2. BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website is supplied on an “as is” basis and has not been compiled to meet the User’s individual requirements. It is the responsibility of the User to satisfy himself or herself, prior to entering into this agreement with BEE NOW’S, that the content available from and through BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website meets the User’s individual requirements and is compatible with the User’s computer hardware and/or software;
10.3. Information, ideas and opinions expressed on BEE NOW’S website should not be regarded as professional advice or the official opinion of BEE NOW’S and Users are encouraged to seek professional advice before taking any course of action related to the information, ideas or opinions expressed on BEE NOW’S website;
10.4. BEE NOW’S does not make any warranties or representations that content and services available from BEE NOW’S BBBEE website will in all cases be true, correct or free from any errors. BEE NOW’S shall take all reasonable steps to ensure the quality and accuracy of content available from BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website and encourages
Users to report incorrect and untrue information subject to the right of BEE NOW’S to rely on its free expression rights and determine, in its sole and absolute discretion, the contents of this website;
10.5. BEE NOW’S does not make any warranties or representations that BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website shall be available at all times. Users acknowledge that BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website may be unavailable due to updates or other causes beyond the reasonable control of BEE NOW’S, including, but not limited to virus infection, unauthorized access, power failure or other “acts of God.”
11. REMOVAL AND CORRECTION OF CONTENT
Users are encouraged to report untrue, inaccurate, defamatory, illegal, infringing and/or harmful content
available from BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website to BEE NOW’S and BEE NOW’S undertakes to correct and/or remove such content or any part thereof if the person reporting such content provided reasonable grounds to prove the alleged nature of the content.
12. INTERCEPTION OF COMMUNICATIONS
12.1. Subject to the provisions of the Regulation of Interception of Communications (RIC) Act 70 of 2002, the User agrees to BEE NOW’S’s right to intercept, block, filter, read, delete, disclose and use all communications sent or posted by the User to BEE NOW’S website, its staff and employees; and
12.2. The User agrees and acknowledges that the consent provided by the User in clause 12.1 satisfies the
“writing” requirement as detailed in the ECT Act and the RIC Act.
13. ENTIRE AGREEMENT AND SEVERABILITY
13.1. These terms and conditions constitute the entire agreement between BEE NOW’S and the User and shall take precedence over any disclaimers and/or legal notices attached to any communications and/or postings received by BEE NOW’S from the User;
13.2. Any failure by BEE NOW’S to exercise or enforce any right or provision shall in no way constitute a waiver of such right or provision; and
13.3. In the event that any term or condition detailed herein is found unenforceable or invalid for any reason,
such term(s) or condition(s) shall be severable from the remaining terms and conditions. The remaining
terms and conditions shall remain enforceable and applicable.
14. AGREEMENT IN TERMS OF SECTION 21 OF THE ECT ACT
The User and BEE NOW’S agree that:
14.1. The User shall be bound to these terms and conditions and such agreement is concluded in Pretoria (South Africa) at the time the User enters BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website for the first time;
14.2. Data messages (as defined in the ECT Act) addressed by the User to BEE NOW’S shall only be deemed to have been received if and when responded to;
14.3. Data messages (as defined in the ECT Act) addressed to the User by BEE NOW’S shall be deemed to be received by the User as detailed in section 23(b) of the ECT Act;
14.4. Data messages (as defined in the ECT Act) addressed by the User to BEE NOW’S shall be deemed to have been created and sent by the User from within the geographical boundaries of South Africa;
14.5. Electronic signatures, encryption and/or authentication is not required for valid electronic communications between the User and BEE NOW’S; and
14.6. The User agrees and warrants that data messages that are sent to BEE NOW’S from a computer, IP address or mobile device normally used by or owned by the User, was sent and/or authorised by the User personally.
15. APPLICABLE AND GOVERNING LAW
BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website is hosted, controlled and operated from the Republic of South Africa and therefore the South African law enforced by the South African courts governs the use or inability to use BEE NOW’S B-BBEE website, its content, services and these terms and conditions.
16. LEGAL COSTS
BEE NOW’S, its agents and suppliers, shall not be liable for costs incurred by Users to obtain professional advice relating to these terms and conditions.
17. REFUNDS POLICY
In instances where levies or administration fees are charged to the User, such fees will only be refunded in the event of a material breach in service outcomes and where there is failure to remedy such breach within 14 days of having received written notice of breach. In such cases, the Agents may refund the User within a
period of 30 days from the initial transaction date.
