Terms of service

1. Important clauses

The Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (CPA) asks us to draw your attention to terms that limit our liability, make you responsible for certain risks, or ask you to indemnify us. Please read these clauses carefully:

• section 8: plans renew automatically and are paid in advance until you cancel; yearly plans are paid for a year at a time.
• section 9: unpaid services are suspended (plans 7 days after they become past due, website aliases 14 days after their paid period).
• section 13: you own your content and domains; we only receive a limited licence to host them.
• section 15: backups are limited, and you must keep your own copies of important data.
• section 16: you are responsible for your account, your content and the security of your credentials and servers.
• section 22 and section 23: when we may suspend or end services, including immediately for unlawful or harmful content.
• section 24: we do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free service.
• section 25: our liability is limited and excludes indirect loss.
• section 26: you indemnify us against claims caused by your content or your breach.
• section 27: events outside our control, including load-shedding.

None of these clauses takes away rights the CPA or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (ECTA) give you as a consumer.

2. About these terms

1. 2.1

   These Terms of Service ("terms") are an agreement between you and Global Software Services (Pty) Ltd, a private company registered in South Africa (registration number 2021/476309/07), trading as NewHost ("NewHost", "we", "us"). They apply to the services offered on newhost.co.za, app.newhost.co.za, our API and documentation.

2. 2.2

   You accept these terms, together with our Acceptable Use Policy, when you create an account (including with Google or Facebook), place an order, or use the services. We record the date and the version you accepted.

3. 2.3

   You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding agreement. If you accept for a company or other organisation, you confirm that you are authorised to bind it, and "you" means that organisation.

4. 2.4

   Where the CPA or ECTA applies to you, nothing in these terms limits the rights those Acts give you, and any clause that would do so applies only to the extent the law allows.

5. 2.5

   You can save or print these terms at any time. The version, effective date and last-updated date appear at the top of this page; earlier versions are available from use our contact form on request.

3. Definitions

In these terms and the documents listed in section 4:

"Account"

your NewHost customer account, including a team account you own.

"Account owner"

the person or organisation that registered the account and is responsible for it and its invoices.

"Billing period"

the month or year you pay for in advance.

"Connected server"

a server you own or rent (including one created at a cloud provider with your token) that you connect to your account so that we can manage it.

"Consumer"

a person to whom the CPA or ECTA applies in the relevant transaction.

"Dashboard"

the customer area at app.newhost.co.za.

"Plan"

a service package with the resources, features and price shown on our pricing page or in your order, including app hosting, website hosting, e-mail hosting, Windows site and server-management plans.

"Services"

everything we provide under these terms: hosting, reseller hosting, apps, databases, e-mail, Windows sites, server management, domains, SSL certificates, backups, preview deploys, Git deployments, the AI gateway, the API and support.

"Team member"

a person you invite to work in your account with a role you choose.

"Your content"

everything you, your team members or your users store, run or send with the services: websites, code, applications, databases, files, e-mail, configuration, domain names and data, including personal information of other people.

4. Documents that make up the agreement

1. 4.1

   Our agreement with you consists of these terms and the following documents, which form part of them:

   • the Acceptable Use Policy;
   • the Domain Registration Terms (for domains);
   • the Cancellations and Refunds policy;
   • the Service Levels and Support statement;
   • the Take-down Notice Procedure; and
   • the plan description and price shown when you ordered, and your invoices.

   Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information; section 28 sets out our duties when we process personal information in your content.

2. 4.2

   If these documents conflict, they apply in this order (the first prevails):

   1. the mandatory provisions of the law, including the CPA, ECTA and the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA);
   2. a written agreement signed by both of us (for example a custom quote or service-level agreement), for what it covers;
   3. service-specific terms, such as the Domain Registration Terms, for that service;
   4. these terms;
   5. the Acceptable Use Policy, the Cancellations and Refunds policy, the Service Levels and Support statement and the Take-down Notice Procedure;
   6. the plan description, order and invoice, which set the resources and price of what you bought.
3. 4.3

   The Acceptable Use Policy always applies in addition to these terms: no plan description, order or quote permits anything it prohibits. Our documentation, guides and blog explain how to use the services; they do not change these terms.

5. Your account and team

1. 5.1

   Give accurate, complete details when you register and keep them up to date, including the e-mail addresses we use for notices and invoices.

2. 5.2

   Keep your password, two-factor backup codes, API keys, provider tokens and server keys secret. We strongly recommend two-factor sign-in. You are responsible for everything done through your account, your API keys and your connected servers, unless it results from our own failure to keep the platform secure.

3. 5.3

   You may invite team members, as your plan allows, and give each a role (administrator, developer, billing or viewer). You are responsible for what they do in your account and for removing access that is no longer needed. Team members act for you; they do not become owners of the account or its content.

4. 5.4

   Tell us immediately at use our contact form if you suspect unauthorised access to your account. We may lock access while we investigate.

5. 5.5

   Before we change who owns an account, turn off two-factor sign-in for you, or give anyone else access, we verify the identity and authority of the person asking.

6. Business verification

1. 6.1

   Ordering services does not need business verification. A domain reseller account completes it before reseller pricing starts, and we may ask any account to complete it when we need to check the account for fraud or abuse. You then give us your entity details (for example registration and VAT numbers), the identity or passport number of the responsible person, your contact details and address, and supporting documents such as a registration certificate, identity document and proof of address.

2. 6.2

   Our team reviews the information and may approve it, ask for changes, or decline it. We may decline or close an account, or refuse an order, if verification we asked for is not completed, the information is false or misleading, or the account presents a risk of fraud or abuse. Paying existing invoices and renewals is never blocked by verification.

3. 6.3

   Verification documents are stored encrypted and handled as described in our Privacy Policy.

7. The services

We provide the services described for your plan. In particular:

1. 7.1

   Hosting. App hosting, website hosting, e-mail hosting and Windows sites run on our servers in South Africa, within the resources (storage, memory, databases, apps, mailboxes, team seats and similar) of your plan. Plans that list them include Git deployments, SSL certificates and preview deploys of other branches, which are removed when the branch is deleted or after 14 days without a deployment.

2. 7.2

   Server management. You can connect servers you own and have us install, manage and deploy software on them (section 10).

3. 7.3

   Domains are registered in your name through our registrar partner under the Domain Registration Terms.

4. 7.4

   Backups are made as described in section 15 and the Service Levels and Support statement.

5. 7.5

   The AI gateway and the API are described in sections 19 and 20.

6. 7.6

   Features marked "coming soon" or "beta" are not part of your plan until they are released, and beta features may change or be withdrawn. We may improve or change the services, but we will not materially reduce a plan you have paid for during its billing period. If we stop offering a service altogether, we give you at least 30 days' notice and refund the unused part of any period you paid for.

8. Prices, invoices and renewals

1. 8.1

   Prices are in South African rand. Global Software Services (Pty) Ltd is not registered for VAT, so no VAT is added: the price shown is the full amount you pay, and our invoices are not tax invoices. Bank charges for payments from outside South Africa are for your account.

2. 8.2

   Plans are paid in advance for the billing period you choose (monthly or yearly). You can pay by card or instant EFT through our payments platform, CentraPoint (operated by Global Software Services (Pty) Ltd; card payments are processed by Netcash), by bank EFT with proof of payment, or from your prepaid wallet. A new service starts once its invoice is paid (bank EFT: once the payment reflects in our account). We never see or store your full card number.

3. 8.3

   Order invoices are normally due within 7 days (upgrades within 3 days and domain registrations within 2 days). An order that is not paid may be cancelled.

4. 8.4

   Renewals. Plans renew automatically for the same billing period until you cancel or turn auto-renew off. The exception is a consumer's yearly plan, which continues month to month after its year unless the consumer renews it for another year (section 8.9). About 7 days before a period ends we issue a renewal invoice, due on the last day of the period (and never sooner than 7 days after it is issued). With wallet auto-pay on, open invoices are paid from your wallet as soon as the balance covers them. We e-mail each invoice and send reminders 7 days and 1 day before it is due.

5. 8.5

   Card renewals. If you choose "renew automatically by card" when paying, your card is charged at the start of each billing period and we e-mail you 7 days before each charge. If a card charge does not arrive, card renewal stops and we issue a renewal invoice with at least 7 days to pay it. Changing plans also stops card renewal; you can set it up again by paying a renewal by card.

6. 8.6

   Extra domains on a hosting plan (website aliases) are charged per month for the plan's billing period. One added during a period is invoiced at once for the rest of that period; at renewal they are added to the plan's renewal invoice, or invoiced separately when the plan renews by card. Domain renewals are invoiced separately, about 30 days before the domain expires.

7. 8.7

   Price changes. We may change our prices. A change applies from your next renewal, and we tell you at least 30 days before it takes effect, so that you can cancel or change plans first. The price of a period you have already paid for does not change.

8. 8.8

   Wallet and AI credits are prepaid in rand, do not expire, do not earn interest and cannot be transferred to another account. AI credits are used up at the per-request prices shown in the dashboard. Refunds of wallet funds are covered by the Cancellations and Refunds policy.

9. 8.9

   Yearly billing. Every plan can be paid monthly or yearly. A yearly plan is paid for 12 months in advance at a lower price than 12 monthly payments: by default 15% less. The yearly price and saving of each plan are shown on our pricing page and when you order. If you are a consumer to whom section 14 of the CPA applies (for example a natural person):

   We apply these rules to every account whose billing details give no company registration number. If you buy for a company, add its registration number under Billing in the dashboard.

   • you may cancel a yearly plan at any time by giving 20 business days' notice (under Billing in the dashboard, or by e-mail); it then ends when the notice period ends, or when its year ends if that is sooner, and we refund the unused part, less only the reasonable cancellation charge set out in the Cancellations and Refunds policy;
   • we notify you in writing between 40 and 80 business days before your year ends, with the end date, any material change at renewal, and your options; and
   • when the year ends, the plan continues month to month at its monthly price, unless you choose to renew it for another year (under Billing, until the year ends) or cancel it. We never charge you for another year unless you chose it: a yearly card payment is stopped before the year ends, and each month is then invoiced with a link to pay it. You can cancel the monthly continuation at any time.

9. Late payment and suspension for non-payment

1. 9.1

   If a renewal invoice is still unpaid at the end of the billing period (or on its due date, if that is later), the service becomes past due and we tell you by e-mail, including the date on which it will be suspended.

2. 9.2

   We send a final notice when 2 days remain before suspension.

3. 9.3

   If the invoice is still unpaid 7 days after the service became past due, we suspend it and tell you by e-mail. While suspended, its websites and apps are stopped and its mailboxes may stop receiving mail, but your content is kept. For a connected server, only our management becomes read-only: your server keeps running. Domains and their DNS are not affected by a hosting suspension.

4. 9.4

   Paying the outstanding invoice restores the service automatically. If the billing period had already ended, the new period starts on the day you pay, so you are not charged for the time the service was suspended.

5. 9.5

   If a service stays suspended and unpaid for 30 days, we may terminate it by giving you at least 7 days' further notice by e-mail. Section 23 then applies, including your right to a copy of your content.

6. 9.6

   We do not charge interest on late payments. Amounts still unpaid after termination remain owed and may be recovered in the usual way, but we do not withhold your domains or your content to collect them (sections 14 and 23).

7. 9.7

   Website aliases. An extra domain on a hosting plan (website alias) whose charge is still unpaid 14 days after the period it was paid for ended is taken off the hosting plan; the plan and its other domains keep working, and paying the charge puts the alias back. An alias order that is never paid is cancelled after 30 days. If the plan itself is suspended, its aliases stop with it.

10. Connected servers, cloud accounts and Git

1. 10.1

   Servers you connect. When you connect a server by SSH, you run our installer, which creates a newhost user with administrator (root or Administrators group) rights and installs our SSH key; when you connect a Plesk server, you give us a Plesk API key. You authorise us to use this access to check the server, install and configure software, deploy your applications and carry out the actions you ask for in the dashboard. We use it for nothing else.

2. 10.2

   You remain responsible for the server, your contract with and payments to its provider, its operating-system updates and security outside what we manage, and its backups. Our staff can sign in to your server only while you have granted support access in the dashboard (for 1 to 72 hours), and each use is recorded.

3. 10.3

   Removing a server from NewHost does not change the server: remove the newhost user and our key yourself if you no longer want us to have access.

4. 10.4

   Cloud provider tokens. If you add an API token for a cloud provider (such as Linode, DigitalOcean, Vultr, Hetzner or Hostinger), you authorise us to use it to list options and to create, start, stop, restart and delete servers when you ask us to. The provider bills you directly under your own agreement with it. Give tokens only the permissions needed, and revoke them at the provider when you stop using them. Deleting a server permanently deletes its data at the provider.

5. 10.5

   GitHub. If you connect GitHub, you allow NewHost access to your repositories through GitHub's repopermission, which covers public and private repositories (GitHub offers no read-only option for private ones). We store the access token encrypted and use it only to list your repositories, add and remove the deploy webhook on the repositories you connect, fetch your code when deploying and show deployment statuses on your commits. We never use it to change your code. You can revoke our access at any time on GitHub (Settings > Applications > Authorized OAuth Apps); private repositories then stop deploying. A GitHub organisation may need to approve NewHost before its repositories can be used. Other Git hosts work through a deploy webhook you set up.

6. 10.6

   Tokens, keys and passwords you give us for these connections are stored encrypted. We are not responsible for the services of the cloud providers or Git hosts themselves (section 18).

11. Changing plans

1. 11.1

   An upgrade to a dearer plan with the same billing period takes effect once its invoice is paid. You pay only the price difference for the rest of the current period; the period end stays the same and later renewals are at the new price.

2. 11.2

   A downgrade (or a change to a plan with the same price) takes effect at your next renewal. Nothing is charged or refunded for the current period, and you can cancel the scheduled change before then. Make sure your content fits the smaller plan.

3. 11.3

   Monthly to yearly is ordered for the next period: the year starts when your paid month ends, so no day is paid twice. Yearly to monthly takes effect at the end of the paid year, like a downgrade (but see section 12.3 if you are a consumer). Other changes are handled as a new order.

12. Cancellation and your cooling-off right

1. 12.1

   You can cancel any plan at any time under Billing in the dashboard. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the paid billing period; the service keeps working until then, and you can withdraw the cancellation ("Keep plan") until then.

2. 12.2

   If you are a consumer, you also have the cooling-off right under ECTA section 44 and the rights under CPA sections 14 and 16 described in our Cancellations and Refunds policy, which also explains credits and refunds.

3. 12.3

   Yearly plans. A consumer to whom CPA section 14 applies may also end a yearly plan before its year ends, by giving 20 business days' notice: choose End it early under Billing, or e-mail use our contact form. It ends when the notice period ends (or when its year ends, if sooner). We refund the unused part of the year, less the yearly discount on the months already used (section 8.9 and the Cancellations and Refunds policy).

13. Ownership of your content and domains

1. 13.1

   You own your content. All rights in your content, including your websites, code, applications, databases, files, e-mail and data, remain with you (or the people you got them from). NewHost claims no ownership of any of it.

2. 13.2

   You own your domains. Domains you register through us are registered with you as the registrant, and you can transfer them away at any time (see the Domain Registration Terms).

3. 13.3

   The licence you give us. You give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to store, copy, back up, transmit, display and otherwise process your content only as needed to provide, secure and support the services you use, to follow your instructions, and to comply with the law. The licence lasts while we host your content and for the retention periods in sections 15 and 23, and ends when the content is deleted.

4. 13.4

   We do not sell your content, use it for advertising, or use it to train artificial intelligence models. Our staff access your content only when needed to provide support you ask for, to restore backups, to keep the platform secure, to investigate abuse, or when the law requires it.

5. 13.5

   You confirm that you have all the rights and permissions needed for your content and for us to host it, and that it does not break the law or our Acceptable Use Policy.

6. 13.6

   Our property. The NewHost platform, dashboard, API, installers, documentation, designs and brand belong to us or our licensors. You may use them only to use the services, and may not copy, resell or reverse-engineer them except as the law allows. If you send us suggestions, we may use them without obligation to you. We may use anonymised, aggregated statistics about use of the platform, which do not identify you or your content, to run and improve it.

14. Getting your data out

1. 14.1

   While your service is active you can export your content yourself: through Git, the file manager, FTP and database tools of your hosting, by connecting to your databases, and by downloading backups. On a connected server, your data stays on your server.

2. 14.2

   On request to use our contact form, we also provide a copy of your files, databases and mailboxes in standard formats (for example a backup archive or a database dump), within a reasonable time and without charge for a reasonable number of requests.

3. 14.3

   After a service ends, the export window in section 23 applies. We do not hold back your content or domains to stop you from moving to another provider.

15. Backups

1. 15.1

   We make automatic backups of websites and e-mail hosting, Node.js apps, Windows sites and databases on our servers: by default weekly, or as often and for as long as your plan includes (shown on the plan), between 01:00 and 05:00 South African time. Within those limits you can change how often backups run and how long they are kept, or turn them off. You can also take a backup at any time, download it and restore it yourself from the dashboard. A website's own databases and a Windows site's MS SQL databases are part of that site's backups. We do not back up servers you own or connect (on-demand backups of a site on such a server stay on that server), or the sites a reseller's clients run in the reseller panel (they use the panel's own backups).

2. 15.2

   Automatic backups run only while the service is active. Backups are kept on the hosting server's own backup storage, not at a separate location, so on their own they do not protect against the loss of that server. You can add your own storage (S3-compatible storage, FTP or SFTP) and have backups copied there; that storage is provided under your contract with its provider, and you are responsible for it. Backup storage on our servers counts against your plan's storage. Where a backup can only be restored by our team (for example a website backup that is kept only on your own storage), support restores it on request.

3. 15.3

   Keep your own copies. No backup system is perfect. You must keep your own current copies of your important content, for example in Git and through regular database and mailbox exports. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for loss of content that you could have recovered from your own copy.

16. Your responsibilities

You are responsible for:

1. 16.1

   your content, including content uploaded or sent by your team members, customers and users, and the code you deploy;

2. 16.2

   using the services lawfully and in line with the Acceptable Use Policy;

3. 16.3

   the security of your credentials and of software you install or deploy, including keeping your applications, plugins and frameworks updated and fixing vulnerabilities in them;

4. 16.4

   keeping your own backups (section 15) and checking that your applications work after changes you make;

5. 16.5

   complying with POPIA and other laws for personal information in your content: you are the responsible party for it, need your own lawful basis and privacy notice, and must deal with requests from your own customers and users;

6. 16.6

   holding valid licences for the software, fonts, images and other material you use;

7. 16.7

   paying your invoices on time and keeping your billing details up to date; and

8. 16.8

   your agreements with third parties whose services you connect, such as cloud providers, Git hosts and AI providers.

17. Acceptable use

1. 17.1

   You must follow our Acceptable Use Policy. In short: nothing unlawful, no child sexual abuse material, malware, phishing, fraud, spam, attacks, open relays or proxies, intellectual-property infringement or hate speech, and no use that degrades the platform for others.

2. 17.2

   Illegal activity will lead to your site being taken down. Where content is unlawful, or causes or threatens serious harm, we may remove it or suspend the service immediately and without prior notice, preserve evidence, and report it to the authorities where the law requires (sections 22 and 23).

3. 17.3

   Abuse reports and take-down notices go to use our contact form, as described in the Take-down Notice Procedure.

18. Third-party services

1. 18.1

   Parts of the services depend on third parties, including data-centre and connectivity providers, Cloudflare (network protection and delivery), Plesk (hosting software), our registrar partner Domains.co.za and the domain registries, Netcash (card processing), IONOS (the data centre of our mail server), Google (Firebase sign-in, reCAPTCHA and Analytics), Meta (Facebook sign-in and WhatsApp), GitHub, the cloud providers you connect, and the AI providers you choose. Our Privacy Policy lists what each of them receives.

2. 18.2

   We choose our providers carefully, but their availability and conduct are outside our control. Services you connect yourself (such as a cloud provider, GitHub or an AI provider with your own key) are governed by your own agreement with them, and their charges are between you and them.

3. 18.3

   To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for failures of third-party services that we could not reasonably prevent, but we will help you deal with them where we can.

19. AI gateway

1. 19.1

   Requests you send through the AI gateway are forwarded to the provider of the model you choose (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Mistral AI, Groq, DeepSeek, xAI or OpenRouter) and are also subject to that provider's terms and usage policies, including whether it uses requests to train its models. Providers process requests outside South Africa (see our Privacy Policy). We do not use your requests to train AI models.

2. 19.2

   AI output can be wrong, incomplete, biased or infringing, and it is not professional (legal, financial, medical or other) advice. Have a person check it before relying on it, and do not use it as the only basis for decisions with legal, financial, medical or safety consequences. As between you and us, output you receive is part of your content.

3. 19.3

   We record usage (model, token counts, cost and status) for billing and support, but we do not store your prompts or the responses. If you use your own provider key, your agreement with that provider applies and its charges are between you and the provider.

20. API and developer use

1. 20.1

   Keep secret API keys confidential and on your servers. Publishable keys may be used in browsers only for the endpoints that allow them.

2. 20.2

   The API is rate-limited, and automated use must not overload the platform.

3. 20.3

   We may revoke a key that is leaked, abused or used against these terms, and tell you when we do. We try to keep the API backwards compatible and to announce breaking changes in advance.

21. Availability, maintenance and support

1. 21.1

   We work to keep the services available and secure. Our commitments on availability, maintenance, backups and support, and what we do not guarantee, are set out in the Service Levels and Support statement.

2. 21.2

   Support is available through tickets in the dashboard and by e-mail to use our contact form. Priority support is included in the plans that list it.

22. Suspension by us

1. 22.1

   Immediate suspension. We may suspend a service, disable specific content, an API key or outgoing mail, or lock an account immediately and without prior notice where this is reasonably necessary because:

   • the content or activity is unlawful (for example child sexual abuse material, phishing, malware or fraud), or we receive a valid take-down notice for it;
   • it threatens the security, integrity or availability of the platform, other customers or third parties (for example an active attack, a compromised site sending spam, or resource use that disrupts a shared server);
   • the account appears to have been taken over, or was opened with false information or for fraud; or
   • the law, a court or a competent authority requires it.

   We tell you what we did and why as soon as it is safe and lawful to do so, and restore the service once the cause is dealt with where that is appropriate.

2. 22.2

   Other breaches. For other breaches of these terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, we first notify you by e-mail and give you at least 7 days (or a longer period we state) to fix the breach. If you do not, we may suspend the affected service until it is fixed.

3. 22.3

   Non-payment follows the timeline in section 9.

4. 22.4

   We do not delete your content during a suspension. Fees continue to apply during a suspension caused by your breach; after a suspension for non-payment, section 9.4 applies.

23. Termination and what happens afterwards

1. 23.1

   We may terminate a service or close your account by notice to you by e-mail:

   • if a breach for which we suspended the service is not fixed within 14 days of the suspension;
   • immediately, for serious or repeated breaches of the Acceptable Use Policy (including any child sexual abuse material) or for fraud;
   • for non-payment, as set out in section 9.5; or
   • with at least 30 days' notice, if we stop offering the service, in which case we refund the unused part of any period you paid for.
2. 23.2

   You may end a service by cancelling it (section 12), and ask us to close your account once your services have ended and your invoices are paid.

3. 23.3

   Export window. After a service ends for any reason, we keep its content for at least 30 days. During that time you can renew the service (if it was cancelled or terminated for non-payment) or ask use our contact form for a copy of your files, databases and mailboxes. After the 30 days we may permanently delete the content and its backups without further notice.

4. 23.4

   We do not return or keep available content that is unlawful to possess or distribute (such as child sexual abuse material or malware), and we keep content for longer where the law requires us to preserve it.

5. 23.5

   Domains are yours and are not affected by the end of a hosting service; they continue under the Domain Registration Terms. Content on connected servers stays on your server.

6. 23.6

   Amounts you owe remain payable after termination. Clauses that by their nature continue (including sections 13, 25, 26, 28, 30 and 31) survive termination.

24. Our commitments and what we do not guarantee

1. 24.1

   We provide the services with reasonable care and skill, and in the manner and quality that persons are generally entitled to expect, as section 54 of the CPA requires. If a service is not provided to that standard, tell us: we will put it right or refund a reasonable part of the price.

2. 24.2

   Beyond that, and to the extent the law allows, the services are provided as they are and as available. We do not guarantee that they will be uninterrupted, error-free or completely secure, that they will meet requirements you did not tell us about, or that backups will always be complete or restorable.

25. Limitation of liability

1. 25.1

   Indirect loss. To the extent the law allows, neither of us is liable to the other for indirect, special or consequential loss, including loss of profit, revenue, business, goodwill or opportunity, whether the claim arises from contract, delict or otherwise.

2. 25.2

   Cap. To the extent the law allows, our total liability arising from or in connection with the services, for all claims together, is limited to the fees you paid us for the affected service in the 12 months before the event that gave rise to the claim (or, if the service is younger than 12 months, the fees paid for it so far).

3. 25.3

   Data. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for loss or corruption of your content except to the extent caused by our breach of these terms or our negligence, and then only within the cap above and taking into account the copies you were required to keep (section 15.3).

4. 25.4

   These limits do not apply to, and nothing in these terms excludes or limits:

   • liability for loss caused by our gross negligence, wilful misconduct or fraud (CPA section 51(1)(c));
   • liability that cannot be limited under the CPA, including section 61, or any other law; or
   • your rights as a consumer under the CPA and ECTA, including your rights to quality services and to fair, just and reasonable terms (CPA sections 48 to 51 and 54).

26. Your indemnity

1. 26.1

   You indemnify NewHost and its directors and staff against claims by third parties, and the reasonable losses, costs (including legal costs on the attorney-and-client scale) and fines that result from them, to the extent they arise from your content, your unlawful use of the services, your breach of these terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, or a breach of POPIA in relation to personal information in your content.

2. 26.2

   This indemnity does not apply to the extent the claim results from our own breach, negligence or misconduct, and applies to consumers only to the extent the CPA allows. We will tell you promptly about a claim, let you take part in its defence, and not settle it without consulting you.

27. Events outside our control

1. 27.1

   Neither of us is liable for a delay or failure to perform caused by events outside reasonable control, including load-shedding and other interruptions of the electricity supply, failures of upstream networks, data centres, registries or payment systems, cable breaks, natural disasters, fire, flood, epidemics, war, unrest, strikes, acts of government, and cyber-attacks that could not reasonably have been prevented. This does not excuse payment of amounts already due.

2. 27.2

   The affected party must tell the other as soon as practical and take reasonable steps to limit the effect. If the event prevents a service for more than 30 consecutive days, either of us may end that service by notice, and we refund the unused part of any period you paid for.

28. Privacy and personal information in your content

1. 28.1

   Our Privacy Policy explains how we process personal information about you and your team as a responsible party.

2. 28.2

   For personal information in your content, you are the responsible party and we are your operator under POPIA. As your operator we:

   • process it only to provide, secure, back up and support the services, on your instructions in these terms and the dashboard, unless the law requires otherwise;
   • treat it as confidential, and require our staff and sub-operators to do the same;
   • maintain the security measures described in our Privacy Policy (POPIA section 19);
   • tell you without undue delay if we have reasonable grounds to believe it has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, so that you can meet your own duties (POPIA sections 21 and 22);
   • use only sub-operators that we bind to similar obligations (such as our data-centre and network providers); and
   • return or delete it when the service ends, as set out in section 23.
3. 28.3

   You confirm that you have a lawful basis to process that information and to have us process it for you, including outside South Africa where you choose services that do so.

29. Changes to these terms

1. 29.1

   We may update these terms and the documents in section 4, for example when we add services or the law changes. The version and dates at the top of each document show the current version.

2. 29.2

   For changes that materially affect you, we notify account owners by e-mail or in the dashboard at least 30 days before they take effect. If you do not agree, you may cancel the affected service before the change takes effect, and we refund the unused part of any period you paid for. Changes needed to comply with the law, or that only benefit you, may take effect sooner.

30. Notices and communications

1. 30.1

   We send notices (including invoices, payment reminders, suspension notices and changes to these terms) by e-mail to your account e-mail address and your billing e-mail address, and may also show them in the dashboard. Under ECTA section 23, an e-mail is received when it enters your mail system and can be retrieved by you.

2. 30.2

   Send us everyday notices, including cancellation and cooling-off requests, at use our contact form. Legal notices (such as a letter of demand or the service of legal process) must be delivered to our physical address in section 34, which we choose as our address for service.

3. 30.3

   You agree that agreements, notices and records may be concluded and kept electronically, and that they meet any requirement for writing (ECTA sections 12 and 13).

31. Complaints, disputes and governing law

1. 31.1

   Please contact us first at use our contact form with any complaint, so that we can try to resolve it. If you are not satisfied with our answer, ask for the complaint to be escalated to management; we will respond in writing and try to resolve it within 20 business days.

2. 31.2

   If we cannot resolve it, consumers may approach the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (www.cgso.org.za, [email protected]), the National Consumer Commission, the Consumer Tribunal or another body with jurisdiction under the CPA, and keep their right to go to court. Complaints about personal information can go to the Information Regulator (see our Privacy Policy). Domain disputes follow the Domain Registration Terms.

3. 31.3

   These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa. Each of us may approach a South African court with jurisdiction. Business customers consent to the jurisdiction of the Magistrates' Court under section 45 of the Magistrates' Courts Act, 1944, even if the amount claimed exceeds its ordinary jurisdiction; we may also use the High Court.

32. General

1. 32.1

   These terms and the documents in section 4 are the whole agreement between us about the services, subject to section 4.2.

2. 32.2

   If any clause is found to be unlawful or unenforceable, it is limited to the extent necessary, and the rest of the terms continue to apply.

3. 32.3

   If we do not enforce a right immediately, we do not give it up.

4. 32.4

   You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these terms without our written consent. We may transfer them to a company that takes over the services, on notice to you, provided your rights are not reduced.

5. 32.5

   Nothing in these terms creates a partnership, employment or agency relationship between us.

33. Reseller hosting

A reseller plan lets you provide hosting to your own clients from your reseller account. This section applies in addition to the rest of these terms while you have a reseller plan.

1. 33.1

   You are our customer; your clients are not, and they have no contract with us.

2. 33.2

   You are responsible for your clients' use of the services. You must make sure they comply with our Acceptable Use Policy and these terms, and you are liable to us for their breaches as if they were your own.

3. 33.3

   We may suspend or remove a client website or account under your reseller account, without first suspending the rest of your account, where it hosts or distributes illegal content, breaches the Acceptable Use Policy, or puts our servers or other customers at risk. Where we can, we will tell you first and give you a reasonable time to act; we act at once for child sexual abuse material, malware, phishing, or when the law requires it.

4. 33.4

   You handle your clients' billing, support, contracts and personal information, as the responsible party under POPIA; we are your operator (section 28). We bill and support only you. Your clients should contact you, not us.

5. 33.5

   If your reseller account is suspended or ends (for example for non-payment), your clients' websites, mailboxes and panels are suspended or end with it. Keep your account in good standing and keep your own backups of your clients' data.

6. 33.6

   Your plan's allocation (client accounts, websites, disk, mailboxes and databases) is a hard limit; you may not resell more than it allows.

34. Supplier information (ECTA section 43)