Terms and Conditions
– The Fine Print That Matters

Take a moment to review our Terms and Conditions. These outline the rules, responsibilities, and rights that ensure a smooth experience for everyone. By using our services, you agree to these terms—because great care starts with clear understanding.

Introduction

All information, including but not limited to text, graphics, images (still or moving) and other material contained on this site, is for reference, informational and educational purposes only.

Whilst all reasonable and foreseeable steps and/or precautions have been taken to ensure the accuracy and safety of the content of this site:

  • reliance hereon and hereof is solely and entirely at your own risk and you assume full responsibility and risk of loss resulting from the use hereof; and/or
  • the use of the products or services advertised on this site are used at your own risk and you accept full responsibility and risk of any injury, damage or loss resulting from the use thereof.

Subject to (and if and to the extent applicable) the South African Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (Act No. 68 of 2008), as amended, and to the fullest extent permissible by law, ER Consulting Inc – Drs Holt and Partners (“the Practice”), any and/or all of its shareholders, directors and/or medical /healthcare practitioners associated and/or involved with the Practice and/or any service or product mentioned on this site, their respective affiliates or shareholders, directors, advisers, agents, consultants or employees will not be liable for any personal and/or physical damages whatsoever, including, without limitation, any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential (including but not limited to loss of profits) or punitive damages, whether in an action arising out of contract, statute, delict or otherwise, relating to the use of, or inability to use, this site or the information contained herein.

As the information and/or content appearing on or transmitted through this site does not constitute advice, you, the user, are encouraged to consult with your medical / healthcare practitioner before acting on any such information or content.

Nothing on this site may be construed as an offer by the Practice to you, but merely an invitation to do business.

This site is currently intended for only those who access it from and within the Republic of South Africa. Because of this and the prescriptive nature and import of the healthcare laws of the Republic of South Africa, the Practice cannot guarantee that the site or the information hereon complies with or is appropriate for use in other countries, and as such, it should only be used by persons who access it from and within the Republic of South Africa.

The Practice makes no representation that information, materials, products and/or services made available through or on the site is appropriate or available for use in other countries, and accessing the site from countries where its contents are illegal is strictly prohibited. If you choose to access the site from countries or locations other than the Republic of South Africa you do on your own initiative and are therefore responsible for compliance with your local laws.

You are encouraged to read these terms and conditions of use carefully before using this site, as the use by you of this site brings into being a legally binding agreement by and between yourself and the Practice upon the terms and conditions set out herein, as contemplated and provided for in the South African Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (Act No. 25 of 2002), as amended.

By using this site, you signify your assent to and accept, without modification, these terms and conditions. Your access to and use of this site constitutes your agreement to and acceptance of these terms and conditions. If you do not agree to all of these terms and conditions of use, you are not permitted to use this site! Should you, however, proceed to access the site, with or without reading these terms and conditions, such action will be an indication of and construed as your acceptance of all of these terms and conditions, whether expressed and/or implied herein.

 

These terms and conditions apply when you visit the site for the first time and thereafter, subject to subsequent changes or amendments hereto, in which case, the latest version of these terms and conditions will apply each time you visit this site. As such, you are encouraged to familiarise yourself with the then prevailing or current terms and conditions each time when using this site as such terms and conditions may have changed from your last visit.

The Practice expressly reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to amend, from time to time, the terms and conditions of use of this site, including but not limited to any prices or charges so quoted. For the avoidance of doubt, the latest version of the terms and conditions, from time to time, will apply at the time as and when you use this site.

No amendment by you of these terms and conditions will be acceptable and/or valid.

A certificate signed by the administrator of this site is prima facie proof (meaning in the absence of proof to the contrary) of the date and content of the latest and any previous versions of these terms and conditions.

In using this site you represent and warrant to the Practice that you are of full legal capacity and age (currently 18 (eighteen) years of age), or are emancipated or have your guardian’s consent to enter into a legally binding and enforceable contract, being these terms and conditions of use.

The Practice may, in its sole and absolute discretion, remove, alter, modify, supplement and/or restrict access to this site, including but not limited to the services, content, information, software or files appearing on or transmitted through this site, including but not limited to the right to change, suspend or close the site, temporarily or permanently, without giving notice.

The Practice may limit certain services, features or functions and restrict or deny you access to all or parts of any service on and/or to the site itself.

In certain instances you may be required to register with the Practice before you can use certain online services (including products). The Practice may, in its sole and absolute discretion (and judgment), accept or reject your registration without giving reasons therefore.

In certain instances separate terms and conditions of service may apply to specific online services or products. You can read these at the section of this site where the relevant online services and/or products are provided. If there is any contradiction between these terms and conditions and the specific terms and conditions of any online service or product, only those specific terms and conditions will apply.

In order to successfully complete any registration process, you may be required to submit personal information (“registration data”), the use whereof is governed by the Privacy Policy located on this site.

You warrant, to and in favour of the Practice that the registration data you submit is current, accurate and complete.

You authorise and consent to the Practice verifying your registration data and gaining access to relevant information held by third parties which may be reasonably required by the Practice to complete the verification process. For the avoidance of doubt, there will be no obligation on the Practice to undertake a verification of your registration data.

Should you not agree to the verification process or withhold your consent, your membership, if applicable, on or use of the site may be refused, denied, suspended and/or terminated. Similarly, if the verification process is not successful, you understand and acknowledge that the Practice is entitled to block or limit your access to the site and you waive any claims you may have against the Practice, its shareholders, officers, directors, employees, servants, agents and/or contractors arising out of its or their denial of your access to the site.

You understand, acknowledge and accept that access to the site’s functionality may be limited until such time as the verification process has been successfully completed.

Your use of any services or products offered on or through this site will be subject to the specific terms and conditions pertaining thereto, as well as these terms and conditions of use, where appropriate. To the extent there is any conflict between the two, the specific terms and conditions will prevail.

You understand and accept that the Practice may amend, in its sole and absolute discretion, from time to time, the prices and charges, as well as the content of any and all services and products, without any notice to you. This the Practice will do by publishing same on the site, together with the impending effective date of any price increase. All prices stipulated, unless otherwise specified, are reflected in South African Rands (ZAR).

Once a service has been rendered, payments made are considered final and non-refundable, except in the case of genuine error.

If a Patient/ Guarantor/ Responsible Person believes a payment was made in error – such as a duplicate payment, incorrect amount, or unintended submissions – they must notify the Practice in writing at info@erconsulting.co.za within 7 days of the payment date, providing full details of the error.

The Practice will assess the request on a case-by-case basis and may, at the sole discretion of the Practice, issue a refund or cancellation of the payment where appropriate. Please note that the Practice is under no obligation to cancel or refund payments for services that have been fully provided and correctly invoiced.

In the event that a refund is due to a Patient, Guarantor or Responsible Person, as the case may be, the Practice will provide the relevant documentation for completion by the individual to whom the refund is due. On receipt of the completed form, together with the required supporting documentation, the Practice will process the refund in 15 – 30 days.

All decision regarding payment cancellations and refunds due are final.

Other organisations’ information may be used from time to time on this site. As the Practice has no control over this information it does not and cannot warrant or guarantee that such information is correct or suitable for anything. As such, the Practice is not directly or indirectly responsible for any loss of whatsoever nature or kind that may follow from you relying on such other organisation’s information.

All live information is delayed unless otherwise specifically stated. You should always update or “refresh” your screen to make sure that you are looking at the latest information.

This site may from time to time link to other websites or mobisites only as a convenience and the inclusion of any link does not imply the Practice’s endorsement of such sites, services, products or persons. Whilst the Practice uses all reasonable precautions to only link to trustworthy parties or systems it cannot be responsible for any of this other information. Any link to any other information, website, mobisite, person or business, does not mean that the Practice has checked or approved of them.

The Practice gives no warranty about any other website, software or hardware, including their security or performance. You hereby waive (meaning to give-up) any claim you may have against the Practice for any loss or damage of whatsoever nature or kind you may suffer because you link or connect to any other website or mobisite.

The Practice may, from time to time, in addition to any link, host or provide third party content on the site for your convenience. 

The Practice does not, and does not undertake to, review or control any third party websites or mobisites that link to or from the site (nor is it under any obligation to do so). The Practice is not and will not be responsible for the content of any third party site displayed or quoted on or linked to or from the site as the Practice has no editorial control over such content.

Opinions, statements, offers or any other information that may constitute third party content remain that of the third party and not of the Practice, its affiliates or any of their shareholders, directors, officers, employees or agents. The Practice, its shareholders, affiliates, directors, officers, employees or agents do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness and/or usefulness of any third party content.

It is your responsibility to evaluate third party content available on and through the site.

The Practice and its affiliates, and their shareholders, directors, officers and employees are not liable for any loss, damage or harm caused by your reliance on third party content obtained on or through the site. Before making any decision or placing any reliance on third party content provided on or through the site, you should take all further reasonable steps to ensure and verify the accuracy of such content. This notice must be displayed in its entirety should you publish any third party content obtained from the site.

Your interaction, correspondence or business dealings with third parties which are referred to or linked from or to this site is entirely at your own risk and are solely between you and such third party, including, without limitation, the acquisition, disposal, payment and delivery of any goods, products or services.

You are solely responsible for identifying and familiarising yourself with any terms and conditions which will govern your relationship with those third parties.

The Practice will not be responsible or liable for any damages or loss caused or which you allege the Practice has caused by, arising from or in connection with your interaction, correspondence or business dealings with such third parties – it being specifically understood and accepted, by you, that such third parties are not agents of the Practice.

Nobody may create any kind of link or reference to this site without first obtaining the Practice’s written permission, which it may refuse permission or grant it on certain conditions. Links that need permission include hyperlinks (automatic links in text), deep links (that bypass the site’s home page), frames, meta tags or any similar reference, electronic or otherwise.

Any request for linking to this site must be sent to info@erconsulting.co.za . Whilst every effort will be made to answer as soon as possible, if, however, you do not receive a response, in writing, within 5 (five) business days, it means, unless otherwise agreed to by the Practice, that it has not agreed to your request.

It is likewise expressly prohibited for any person, business, entity. mobisite or website to frame any page on this site, including the home page, in any way whatsoever, without the prior written approval of the Practice.

The use of non-malicious search technology, such as, but not limited to, “web-crawlers” or “web-spiders”, to search and gain information from this site is not permitted without the Practice’s prior written consent.

You acknowledge that information transmitted via the Internet, including without limitation, electronic mail, is susceptible to monitoring and interception. You are accordingly discouraged from transmitting to the Practice any information that may be confidential, proprietary or sensitive. 

You will bear all risk of transmitting such information in this manner and under no circumstances will the Practice or any of its associates, shareholders, directors, employees and the like be liable for any loss, harm or damage suffered by you as a result thereof. 

The Practice will have the right to request independent verification of any information transmitted electronically and you, by these terms and conditions, authorise and consent to such verification should the Practice deem it necessary. 

Any information or material sent to this site will be deemed not to be confidential, unless otherwise agreed in writing by you and the Practice.

You are expressly prohibited from gaining or attempting to gain unauthorised access to any page on or part of this site, or to deliver or attempt to deliver any unauthorised, damaging or malicious code to this site. If you deliver or attempt to deliver any unauthorised, damaging or malicious code to this site or attempt to gain unauthorised access to any page or part of this site a complaint will be laid against you to be criminally charged and, and in the event the Practice suffers any damage or loss, a civil damages claim will be proceeded with against you.

 You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of your user name, password and/or account, if and where applicable, accepting full responsibility, accountability and liability for all activities that occur under your name and to this extent:

  • you are responsible for maintaining and promptly updating the registration data and any other information you provide the Practice, thereby keeping it current, accurate and complete;
  • if you believe the security of your account has been compromised in any way, you will immediately notify info@erconsulting.co.za ;
  • if you believe that information or content published on the site infringes on any persons’ rights in any way, you will immediately notify info@erconsulting.co.za ; and/or
  • you will be held fully responsible for any misuse or compromise to your account which info@erconsulting.co.za was not properly and timeously notified about.

You may not use this site or any of the site’s material for or in conjunction with any illegal, unlawful or immoral purpose or as prohibited by these terms and conditions of use. 

You undertake to comply with all the laws, rules and regulations regarding online conduct in the Republic of South Africa and, to the extent you are accessing the site outside of the Republic of South Africa, you are to also comply with the laws, rules and regulations of your country. 

In the event that you link to any page on this site or are permitted to frame this site or any of the pages on this site or any part thereof, in any way whatsoever, you:

  • undertake to acknowledge the Practice and the specific reference, if applicable, as your source;
  • do so at your own risk; and
  • hereby indemnify the Practice against any loss, liability or damage that may arise as a result of the use of content, products and/or services from the site. 

You undertake to adhere to generally acceptable Internet and electronic mail etiquette. In this regard, without limitation to the examples listed below, you undertake not to:

  • engage in any abuse of electronic mail or spamming, including (without limitation) the posting or cross-posting of unsolicited articles with the same or substantially the same message to recipients that did not request to receive such messages;
  • engage in any activity intended to entice, solicit or otherwise recruit users of the site to join an organisation except where such activities are expressly authorised, in writing, by the Practice and permitted in terms of the laws of the Republic of South Africa and, if you are accessing the site from another country, the laws also of your country;
  • take any action aimed at deceiving or misleading any person, attempt to impersonate or misrepresent your affiliation to any person or forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of anything posted or transmitted through the products and/or services, including but not limited to phishing;
  • impersonate any other person or use a false or unauthorised name so as to create a false identity and/or electronic mail address or to misrepresent the origin or identity of any communication to the site and/or its owner;
  • modify, access or make available any data stored on a computer device which has been accessed through the site;
  • make available or upload files that contain software or any other material not owned or appropriately licensed to you;
  • use the site, products and/or services or the site to post or transmit, by means of listings, reviews, comments, suggestions, ideas, questions or otherwise, anything which is unlawful, defamatory, discriminatory, obscene, offensive, vulgar, threatening, abusive, harassing, harmful, hateful, profane, sexually explicit or which carries child pornography, religious or racial slurs, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable in any way or threatens or encourages bodily harm or the like or which may violate any person’s personality rights;
  • use the site, products and/or services to make fraudulent offers to sell or buy products, items or services or to offer or solicit for any type of financial scam such as “pyramid schemes” and “chain letters”;
  • use the site, products and/or services in a manner that may infringe the intellectual property rights (for example copyright or trademarks) or other proprietary rights of others, including (without limitation) the transmission of pirated software;
  • use the site, products and/or services in any manner which could damage, impair, overburden or disable the site and/or the products and/or services or interfere with any other party’s use or enjoyment of the products and/or services;
  • use the site, products and/or services to post or transmit anything which contains viruses or any other destructive features, regardless of whether or not damage is intended;
  • gather electronic mail addresses and/or names for commercial, political, charitable or like purposes or use the site, products and/or services to collect or attempt to collect personal information about third parties without their knowledge or consent;
  • violate the privacy of any person or attempt to gain unauthorised access to the site, products and/or services or any other website or network, including (without limitation) through hacking, password mining or any other means;
  • use the site, products and/or services to engage in any illegal or unlawful activity;
  • use any robot, spider, other automatic device or technology, or manual process or similar data gathering and extraction tools to monitor or copy portions of the site for any non-personal or commercial use;
  • use any meta tags or other “hidden text” utilizing the the Practice names or trademarks, without the prior written consent of the Practice;
  • frame or utilize any framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout or form) of the Practice and its affiliates, without the prior written consent of the Practice;
  • collect or use any listings, descriptions or price lists from the site for the benefit of a competing merchant that supplies products or services comparable to those advertised on the site; and/or
  • act in any way which may, could or does impose an unreasonable or unusually large load of traffic on the site, or otherwise interferes with its proper and timely functioning.

Should you engage in any one or more of the above practices, the Practice will be entitled, without prejudice to any other rights it may have, to:

  • without notice, suspend or terminate your access to the site, products and/or services;
  • charge, invoice and reclaim from you all reasonable costs it has incurred pursuant to or arising from your aforementioned activities, including (without limitation) bandwidth, administration costs, downtime, usage of name or registered domain name; and/or
  • notwithstanding the Privacy Policy, disclose any information relating to you, whether public or personal, to all persons affected by your actions.

It is your responsibility to acquire and maintain, at your own expense, the computer hardware, software, communications infrastructure and access accounts required to safely and securely access the Internet and the site, as well as, to safely download content from the site.

You hereby, subject to the provisions of the South African Regulation of Interception of Communications Act, 2002 (Act No. 70 of 2002), as amended, consent and permit the Practice to intercept, block, filter, read, delete, disclose and use all and/or any communications you send, transmit to or post on or through the site, as well as any electronic mail accounts or locations associated with the Practice. It being specifically understood that your aforementioned consent satisfies the “writing” requirement prescribed in both of the South African Regulation of Interception of Communications Act, 2002 (Act No. 70 of 2002), as amended, and the South African Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (Act No. 25 of 2002), as amended.

Copyright and other rights in respect of all intellectual and/or other property displayed or appearing on or incorporated in this site or the visual appearance thereof, including but not limited to, information, data, documents, texts, illustrations, drawings, images, photographs, visuals, video or audio sequences, animated sequences, graphics, logos and codes are the exclusive property of, belong to and are owned by the Practice or, where so expressly stated, third parties.

Except as specifically provided for on this site or in writing by the Practice, any reproduction, distribution, replication or retransmission of any information, data, document, text, illustration, drawing, image, photograph, visual, video or audio sequence, animated sequence, graphic, logo and/or code contained on this site without the prior written consent of the Practice is strictly prohibited. To the extent written permission is granted by the Practice to any reproduction, distribution, replication or retransmission as contemplated above, same will be for personal use and not for profit, material, commercial or financial gain. All reproductions must be accurate and not used in a misleading context. If any material is being republished the material or issuing it to others, must acknowledge its source, copyright status and date of publication.

Any permission to reproduce the copyright protected material does not extend to any material on this site that is identified as being the copyright of a third party. Authorisation to reproduce such material must be obtained from the copyright holder concerned.

Placing references to this site on other websites or mobisites without the prior written consent of the Practice is strictly prohibited.

This site, its content and the various products, items and designs displayed or appearing hereon are protected by inter alia the South African common law, the South African Copyright Act, 1978 (Act No. 98 of 1978), as amended, the South African Designs Act, 1993 (Act No. 195 of 1993), as amended, The TRIPPS Agreement, The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1886, The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 1883 and the Patent Co-operation Treaty of 1970. Any breach of copyright and/or any other infringement of the Practice’s rights will result in the company and its associates having the right to inter alia claim relief by way of damages, an interdict and the delivery-up of the infringing copies or reproductions. In addition, an infringement will constitute a criminal offence resulting in the payment of a fine or imprisonment.

All rights not expressly granted are hereby reserved. Notwithstanding that the Practice grants to you, by means of these terms and conditions, a personal, revocable, non-exclusive, non-assignable and non-transferable license to use, print and display all content, information, software or files on any machine of which you are the primary user for non-commercial purposes, the intellectual property rights in all content, information, services and/or software vesting will continue to vest in the Practice and no right, title or interest in any proprietary material or information contained on this site is granted to you. Nothing on this site is or constitutes a licence (permission) to use any trade mark for any other purpose without first obtaining written permission from the Practice or any other party that has rights to the intellectual property.

You are prohibited from sublicensing, assigning or transferring this license to any person.

Any unauthorised copying and/or sublicensing, or attempt at copying and/or sublicensing, assignment or transfer of this agreement, shall result in the immediate termination of this agreement by and without notice from the Practice.

You are responsible for all the use of the information, content or services accessed through your user account, which may be determined inter alia by cookies, passwords or authentication certificates.

You hereby ratify, guarantee and undertake to be personally liable for any and all obligations entered into or assumed by others who use the information, content or services through your user account.

You retain your copyright and/or your full right, title and interest in and to the content which you submit to the site which includes, without limitation, comments posted on the site, but such content, where applicable, is, must be and will be deemed to be licensed by you to the Practice for use on the site under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 ZA License.

By using this site or communicating with the Practice by electronic means, you consent and acknowledge that any and all agreements, notices, disclosures or any other communication satisfies any legal requirement, including but not limited to the requirement that such communications should be “in writing”. No term or provision contained in these terms and conditions is to be interpreted or construed so as to exclude any rights granted by Chapter VII of the South African Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (Act No. 25 of 2002), as amended, to any natural person who enters or intends entering into an electronic transaction on or through this site.

Information, ideas and opinions expressed on this site are general in nature and must not be regarded as specific medical advice. You are solely responsible and strongly advised to seek other professional medical advice before acting on such information, particularly with respect to any specific scenario or set of circumstances.

To the fullest extent permissible by law and subject to the provisions of the South African Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (Act No. 68 of 2008), as amended, the Practice disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including, without limitation, fitness for a particular purpose, in respect of this site and any and all information hereon.

The Practice does not warrant that:

  • the functions and/or information contained on this site will meet your requirements or operate in every combination selected by you for use, will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error free, that any defects or errors will be corrected or that this site or the server that makes it available is free of viruses or other harmful components;
  • this site or its information will provide specific results from use thereof or any content, search or link within them or that the results that may be obtained from the use of this site will be accurate or reliable;
  • to the fullest extent permissible under law, your use of this site and reliance on any information, services, products and/or materials available on or procured or accessed through this site is entirely at your own risk;
  • although all reasonable steps are taken to verify information presented on the site, the Practice does not represent or warrant that any advice, opinion, statement or other information contained in, displayed on, linked to or distributed through this site is applicable to or suitable for application to any specific scenario or set of circumstances – any reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement or information will be at your sole risk;
  • the Practice will be entitled, at any time and from time to time, to correct any errors or omissions in any portion or part of this site, including, without limitation, any information; and/or
  • to the fullest extent permissible by or in law and subject to the provisions of the South African Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (Act No. 68 of 2008), as amended,:
  • under no circumstances whatsoever, including as a result of any negligent acts or omissions or those of the Practice’s servants, agents or contractors or other persons for whom in law it may be liable, will the Practice or its servants, agents or contractors or other persons for whom in law the Practice may be liable (in whose favour this constitutes a stipulation for the benefit of another), be liable for any direct, indirect, extrinsic, special, penal, punitive, exemplary or consequential loss (including without limitation, loss of profits), damage or damages of any kind whatsoever or howsoever caused (whether arising under contract, delict or otherwise and whether the loss was actually foreseen or reasonably foreseeable), including but not limited to any loss of profits, loss of revenue, loss of operation time, corruption or loss of information or data and/or loss of contracts sustained by you, your directors, servants, dealers or customers, resulting from your use of or inability to use the site or any information, service and/or product hereon or hereof; and/or
  • no claims or legal action arising out of, or related to, the use of this site, any information, service and/or product hereon or hereof or these terms and conditions of use may be brought by you more than 3 (three) years after the cause of action relating to such claim or legal action arose.

You hereby undertake to indemnify and keep indemnified the Practice and its associates and their respective our shareholders, officers, directors, employees, servants, advisers, agents or contractors or other persons to whom, in law, they may be liable or become liable (in whose favour this constitutes a stipulation for the benefit of another) from and against any loss, damage, liability, claim or demand due to or arising out of your use of this site or your breach of these terms and conditions of use.

In the event that any claim, matter or dispute arises between you and the Practice arising out of or in connection with your use of or access to the site such claim, matter or dispute may, at the Practice’s election, be resolved in accordance with the Rules of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa by an arbitrator appointed by the aforementioned Foundation.

A dispute will be deemed to have been referred or subjected to arbitration when either you or the Practice gives written notice to the other of the dispute, demands an arbitration and requests consensus on an arbitrator.

The arbitrator will have the power to give default judgment if either you or the Practice fails to make submissions on the due date therefore and/or fails to appear at the arbitration hearing.

The evidence in the arbitration proceedings and any order made by any arbitrator will and must be kept confidential unless otherwise contemplated in these terms and conditions of use.

Either you or the Practice will be entitled to have an arbitration award made an order of court by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Notwithstanding the above, you or the Practice will be entitled to institute action in any court of competent jurisdiction to obtain urgent interim relief or to collect any outstanding debts due and payable by either you or the Practice. The arbitration provisions of these terms and conditions of use are severable from the rest of these terms and conditions of use and will remain in effect even if these terms and conditions of use are terminated for any reason whatsoever.

As this site is controlled, managed and maintained from the Republic of South Africa these terms and conditions of use will be governed by and construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa.

You irrevocably and unconditionally consent:

  • to the jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court where the Practice’s head office is located even though the value of your claim may exceed the ordinary monetary jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court; and
  • and submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg or its successor in name or title, as the case may be.

The Practice chooses the addresses stipulated on this site for all communication purposes under these terms and conditions of use, whether in respect of court process, notices or other documents or communications of whatsoever nature. You chose the addresses given in your registration data, if applicable.

If you breach any of these terms and conditions of use, the Practice will be entitled, but not obliged, to immediately, automatically and without notice to you, terminate your use of and access to the site, and/or prohibit your future access to and/or use of the site, and/or take appropriate legal action against you (including without limitation, applying for urgent and/or interim relief and/or claiming damages), without incurring any liability to you of any nature whatsoever and howsoever arising.

Upon termination of these terms and conditions of use, all rights which may have been granted to you pursuant hereto, will immediately and automatically revert to the Practice.

These terms and conditions of use and this agreement will be deemed to have been concluded in Johannesburg at the time you access the site for the first time.

Data messages addressed by you to the Practice will be deemed to have been: 

– received if and when responded to; and 

– sent by you within the geographical boundaries of the Republic of South Africa.

You will be deemed to have received data messages addressed to you by the Practice as prescribed in section 23(b) of the South African Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (Act No. 25 of 2002), as amended, namely when the complete data message enters an information system designated or used for that purpose by the addressee and is capable of being retrieved and processed by the addressee.

Notwithstanding any other provision of these terms and conditions of use, electronic signatures, encryption and/or authentication are not required for valid electronic communications between you and the Practice.

You warrant that all data messages that you send to the Practice from a computer, Internet Protocol address or mobile device normally used by you, was sent and/or authorised by you personally.

These terms and conditions of use constitute, to the fullest extent permissible by law, prima facie proof (meaning in the absence of further evidence) the whole agreement between you and the Practice relating to your access to and use of this site.

No indulgence, extension of time, waiver or relaxation of any of the provisions or terms of these terms and conditions of use which the Practice may show, grant or allow you will operate as an estoppel (meaning to prevent or deny the Practice from taking action) against you in respect of its rights under these terms and conditions of use nor will it constitute a waiver by the Practice of any of its rights and the Practice will not thereby be prejudiced or stopped from exercising any of its rights against you which may have arisen in the past or which might arise in the future.

Nothing in these terms and conditions of use will create any relationship of agency, partnership or joint venture between you and the Practice and you cannot and hereby undertake not to hold yourself out as our agent or partner or as being in a joint venture with the Practice.

To the extent that any provision of these terms and conditions of use is held to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable for any reason, such provision will be deemed to be pro non scripto (meaning as though it had not been written), but without affecting or invalidating any of the remaining provisions of these terms and conditions of use, which will continue to be of full force and effect.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

This Privacy Policy forms part of and is incorporated into the terms and conditions of and applicable to the website, https://www.erconsulting.co.za or such other mirrored mobisite or application forming part of or attached to this website (“site”), including but not limited to accessing, browsing and/or using the site.

Please review this Privacy Policy carefully, as your accessing, browsing and/or use of the site will be subject thereto. If you do not accept the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy, then you are to immediately cease accessing, browsing and/or using the site, failing which you will be deemed to have agreed to have accepted the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy.

Please note that the Practice cannot, despite its safeguards and security, guarantee the security of any Personal Information that you disclose on the internet or online.

References to the word or term:

  • “ECT Act” means the South African Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (Act No. 25 of 2002), as amended.
  • “Health Acts” means the National Health Act, 2003 (Act No. 61 of 2003), the Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act No. 56 of 1974), as amended, and the Regulations and Guidelines promulgated by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (“HPCSA”) in terms of the Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act No. 56 of 1974), as amended.
  • “Personal Information” means information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person and where it is applicable, identifiable, existing juristic person, including all information as defined in the South African
    Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (Act No. 4 of 2013), as amended (“PoPI”). When referenced to you, it means all information specific to you, that identifies you, provided over the internet.
  • “the Practice” means ER Consulting Incorporated – Drs Holt and Partners.
  • “Process” or “Processing” or “Processed” or words of similar nature or meaning, means the creation, generation, communication, storage, destruction of personal information as more fully defined in PoPI.
  • “you” or the “user” means any person who accesses, uses and/or browses the site, for any purpose.

The Practice respects your privacy and will take reasonable measures to protect it, as more fully detailed below.

This Privacy Policy sets out the Practice’s information gathering and dissemination practices on and in respect of the site.

This Privacy Policy governs the Processing of Personal Information provided to the Practice through you accessing, browsing and/or using of the site.

The Practice may, in its sole discretion, amend the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy from time to time. The version of this Privacy Policy is indicated by the version reference number and effective date referred to above, from which version and date governs the accessing, browsing and/or use of site until the next revision of this Privacy Policy becomes effective.

It is your duty to remain appraised of the prevailing or current version of this Privacy Policy from time to time, as the then prevailing version will apply from time to time.

A certificate signed by the administrator of this site is prima facie proof (meaning in the absence of proof to the contrary) of the date and content of the latest and any previous versions of these terms and conditions.

The Practice will use your Personal Information only as appropriate in the normal course of business. Your personal information will be collected essentially for the following reasons:

  • to identify you;
  • for the Practice to Process your instructions;
  • to manage any transaction you may have with the Practice;
  • to comply with the laws of the Republic of South Africa;
  • to detect fraud; and/or
  • for direct marketing to you via e-mail, mobile phone or telephone.

The Practice does not permit the selling or providing of Personal Information to third parties for independent use or commercial gain. The Practice may share your Personal Information with its business partners or affiliated companies if that information is required to provide you with the products or services requested by you.

Should you be required, at any time, to register as a user on the site, you may be required or obliged to provide the Practice with the following Personal Information:

  • first name and surname;
  • date of birth or age;
  • email address;
  • physical address;
  • medical aid details;
  • gender;
  • marital status;
  • contact telephone or mobile / cellular number; and/or
  • username and password.

Should that information change, you are requested to update such information as soon as reasonably possible to enable the Practice to update its records.

You may choose to provide additional Personal Information to the Practice, in which event you agree to provide accurate and current information, and not to impersonate or misrepresent any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with anyone or anything.

By providing your Personal Information to the Practice you acknowledge that it has been collected directly from you and consent to and authorise its Processing by the Practice.

Where you submit Personal Information (such as your name, address, telephone number and email address etc.) via the site (e.g. through completing any online form or registration) the following principles will be observed in the Processing of that information:

  • the Practice will only collect Personal Information for a purpose consistent with the purpose for which it is required, which will be apparent from the context in which it is requested;
  • the Practice will only Process Personal Information in a manner that is adequate, relevant and not excessive in the context of the purpose for which it is processed;
  • Personal Information will only be Processed for a purpose compatible with that for which it was collected, unless you have agreed to an alternative purpose in writing or the Practice is permitted or obliged in terms of legislation of general application dealing primarily with the protection of Personal Information;
  • the Practice will keep records of all Personal Information collected and the specific purpose for which it was collected for a period of 12 (twelve) months from the date on which it was last used, save where otherwise required by law;
  • the Practice will not disclose any of your Personal Information to any third party without your prior written agreement or the Practice is required to do so in law;
  • if Personal Information is released with your consent the Practice will retain a record of the information released, the third party to which it was released, the reason for the release and the date of release, for a period of 12 (twelve) months from the date on which it was last used; and/or
  • the Practice will destroy or delete any Personal Information that is no longer needed by the Practice for the purpose it was initially collected, or subsequently Processed.

The Practice will, where required to and as governed by the Rules of the HPCSA and the Health Acts, retain medical records appropriately and safely for periods required in terms thereof.

As permitted by the ECT Act, the Practice hereby advises that it may use your Personal Information, so collected, towards the compiling of profiles for statistical purposes. The information contained in the profiles or statistics will not be able to be linked back to any specific user. In other words, it is deidentified or anonymised data and statistics.

The Practice subscribes to the principles of collecting Personal Information electronically as provided for in section 51 of the ECT Act.

The Practice may use standard technology to collect information about the use of the site, but which will only be for the collection of statistical data.

The Practice may utilise temporary or session cookies to keep track of users’ browsing habits. It is important that it be brought to your attention that a “cookie” is a small file that is transferred or downloaded onto the hard drive of your computer in order to keep a record of your interaction with the site and facilitate your convenience. Cookies, by themselves, will not be used to identify a user, but may be used to compile deidentified or anonymised statistics relating to the use of services or goods offered or to provide the Practice with feedback on the use, efficiency and/or performance of the site.

The following types of information may be collected in respect of users who have enabled cookies:

  • the browser software used;
  • Internet Protocol address;
  • the date and time of activities while visiting the site;
  • the URLs or uniform resource locator of internal pages visited; and/or

It is possible to opt out and/or alter the manner in which your browser handles cookies. Please note that, if this is done, certain services and/or products or links on the site may not be available.

The Practice takes reasonable measures to ensure the security and integrity of information submitted to or collected by the site, but cannot, under any circumstances, be held liable for any loss or other damage sustained by you as a result of unlawful access to or dissemination of any Personal Information by a third party.

The Practice has no control over and accepts no responsibility or liability for the privacy practices of any third party websites or mobisites to which hyperlinks may have been provided.

The Practice urges you to review the privacy policy of every website or mobisite you visit before using it.

The Practice will not address or service anyone under the age of 13 (thirteen). The Practice does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13 (thirteen).

If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided the Practice with Personal Information, please contact the Practice. If the Practice becomes aware that it may have collected Personal Information from anyone under the age of 13 (thirteen) without verification of parental consent, the Practice will take steps to remove that information from its servers. If the Practice needs to rely on consent as a legal basis for Processing your information and your country requires consent from a parent, the Practice will have the right and may require your parent’s consent before it collects and uses that information.

A cookie is a small piece of data sent from sites or applications to your computer or device hard drive or Internet browser where it is saved. The cookie contains information to personalise your experience on a website, mobisite or applications and may improve your experience on the sites or applications. The cookie will also identify your device, like the computer or smart phone.

By accessing and using the Practice’s sites or applications you agree that cookies may be forwarded from the relevant site or application to your computer or device. The cookie will enable the Practice to know that you have visited the site or application before and will identify you. The Practice associates, cessionary, delegates, assigns, affiliates or successors in title and / or appointed third parties (like its authorised agents, partners, contractors and suppliers)  may also use the cookie to prevent fraud and for analytics.

If you have any queries about this Privacy Policy and the Cookie Policy please contact the Practice by emailing it on: info@erconsulting.co.za

The following statements are made to comply with PoPI.

 

Introduction

In addition to the Privacy Policy above, where reference is made to “Process”, it means how the Practice collects, uses, stores, makes available, destroys, updates, discloses, or otherwise deals with Personal Information. As a general rule, the Practice will only process this Personal Information if it is required to deliver or offer a service, provide a product, carry out a transaction or obligation in a contract.

The Practice may combine this Personal Information and use the combined Personal Information for any of the purposes stated in the above Privacy Policy.

If you use the Practice’s other services, goods, products and service channels you agree that the Practice may Process this Personal Information as explained in the Privacy Policy.

By accessing and using the site you provide the Practice with consent to Process this Personal Information.

The Practice is considered a global organisation operating and trading ostensibly in the Republic of South Africa and, as such, the Privacy Policy will apply to the Processing of Personal Information by any natural person globally.

If the Practice Processes Personal Information for another party under a contract or a mandate, the other party’s privacy policy will apply to the Processing of such information.

The Privacy Policy establishes a general standard for the appropriate protection of Personal Information within the Practice’s environment, whilst also acknowledging the rights of individuals to privacy and to reasonable safeguards of their Personal Information.

 

Scope

All of the Practice’s employees, contractors, consultants, temporary and other workers, including all personnel affiliated with third parties should adhere to the Privacy Policy. The Privacy Policy applies to information, assets owned or leased by the Practice, or to devices that connect to the Practice’s network or reside at a Practice site.

 

Policy Statement

What is personal information?

Personal Information refers to any information that identifies you or specifically relates to you, or the Practice’s employees, as the case may be, that is Processed. Personal Information includes, but is not limited to, the following information about you and/or the Practice’s employees, as the case may be:

  • Marital status
  • National origin
  • Age
  • Language
  • Birth place
  • Education
  • Relevant financial history
  • Identifying number (like an employee number, identity number or passport number)
  • E-mail address;
  • Physical address (like residential address, work address or your physical location);
  • Telephone number
  • Biometric information (like fingerprints, signature or voice)
  • Race; gender; sex; pregnancy status; ethnic origin; social origin; colour; sexual orientation;
  • Physical health; mental health; well-being; disability; religion; belief; conscience; culture;
  • Medical history; criminal history; employment history;
  • Personal views, preferences and opinions;
  • Another’s views or opinions about you;
  • Full names and initials.

 

When will the Practice Process your Personal Information?

The Practice will only process Personal Information for lawful purposes relating to its business if the following applies:

  • If you have consented thereto;
  • If a person legally authorised by you, the law or a court, has consented thereto;
  • If it is necessary to conclude or perform under a contract the Practice has with you;
  • If the law requires or permits it; and/or
  • If it is required to protect or pursue your, the Practice’s or a third party’s legitimate interest.

 

What is special Personal Information?

Special personal information is personal information about the following:

  • Race (where reports to the Department of Labour for statistical information is requited);
  • Ethnic origin;
  • Trade union membership;
  • Health (for an insurance policy);
  • Biometric information (to verify identity); and/or
  • Criminal behaviour and alleged commission of an offense.

 

When will the Practice process your special Personal Information?

The Practice may process your special personal information in the following circumstances:

  • If you have consented to the processing;
  • If the information is being used for any Human Resource or payroll related requirement;
  • If the processing is needed to create, use or protect a right or obligation in law;
  • If the processing is for statistical or research purposes and all legal conditions are met;
  • If the special personal information was made public by you; and
  • If the processing is required by law.

 

When and from where the Practice obtains Personal Information about you?

  • The Practice collects Personal Information from you directly.
  • The Practice may collect Personal Information from a public record or if you have deliberately made the information public.
  • The Practice may collect personal information from third parties that are directly integrated with the site’s software platform.
  • The Practice may collect information about you based on your use of its products, services or service channels.
  • The Practice may collect information about you based on how you engage or interact with the Practice, such as via emails, letters, telephone calls and surveys.
  • The Practice may collect Personal Information from completed forms, such as contact and billing information – If the law requires the Practice to do so, it will ask for your consent before collecting Personal Information. The third parties from whom the Practice may collect your Personal Information include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • the Practice’s partners, affiliates and associates, as well as other bureau or channel partners or connected companies, subsidiary companies, cessionaries, delegates, assigns, or successors in title and/or appointed third parties (like its authorised agents, partners, contractors and suppliers) for any of the purposes identified in the Privacy Policy;
  • your employer and fellow employees or you directly;
  • your spouse, dependents, partners, and other similar sources;
  • people you have been authorised to share your Personal Information, like a person that makes a travel booking on your behalf or a medical practitioner for insurance purposes;
  • attorneys, tracing agents, debt collectors and other persons that assist with the enforcement of agreements;
  • payment processing services providers, merchants, banks and other persons that assist with the processing of your payment instructions, like EFT transaction partners;
  • insurers, brokers, other financial institutions or other organisations that assist with insurance and assurance underwriting, the providing of insurance and assurance policies and products, the assessment of insurance and assurance claims and other related purposes;
  • law enforcement and fraud prevention agencies and other persons tasked with the prevention and prosecution of crime;
  • regulatory authorities, industry ombudsman, governmental departments, local and international tax authorities;
  • trustees, executors or curators appointed by a court of law or otherwise in accordance with the law;
  • the Practice’s service providers, agents and sub-contractors, like couriers and other persons it uses to offer and provide products and services to you; and/or
  • courts of law or tribunals.

 

What are the reasons the Practice needs to Process your Personal Information?

The Practice may need to Process your Personal Information for the following reasons:

  • to provide you with products, goods and services;
  • to market our products, goods and services to you;
  • to respond to your enquiries and complaints;
  • to comply with legislative, regulatory, risk and compliance requirements (including directives, sanctions and rules), voluntary and involuntary codes of conduct and industry agreements or to fulfil reporting requirements and information requests;
  • to conduct market and behavioural research, including scoring and analysis to determine if you qualify for products and services or to determine your credit or insurance risk;
  • to develop, test and improve products and services for you;
  • for historical, statistical and research purposes, like market segmentation;
  • to process payment instruments;
  • to create, manufacture and print payment advice;
  • to enable us to deliver goods, documents or notices to you;
  • for security, identity verification and to check the accuracy of your personal information;
  • to communicate with you and carry out your instructions and requests;
  • for customer satisfaction surveys and promotional offerings;
  • to enable you to take part in and make use of value-added products and services;
  • to assess any and all risks; and/or
  • for any other related purposes.

 

How will the Practice use your Personal Information for marketing purposes?

The Practice may use your Personal Information to market its services, as well as related products and services to you.

The Practice may also market non-banking or non-financial products, goods or services to you.

The Practice will do this in person, by post, telephone, or electronic channels such as SMS, Whatsapp and email.

If you are not a customer, patient or client, or in any other instances where the law requires, the Practice will only market to you by electronic communications with your consent.

In all cases, you can request the Practice to stop sending marketing communications to you at any time.

 

When, how and with whom may the Practice share your Personal Information?

In general, the Practice will only share your Personal Information if any one or more of the following apply:

  • If you have consented to this;
  • If it is necessary to conclude or perform under a contract the Practice has with you;
  • If the law requires it;
  • If it’s necessary to protect or pursue your, the Practice’s or a third party’s legitimate interest. Where required, each shareholder of the Practice may share your Personal Information with the following persons, who, together with its and their associates, cessionary, delegates, assigns, affiliates or successors in title and/or appointed third parties (like its authorised agents, partners, contractors and suppliers) have an obligation to keep your Personal Information secure and confidential –
  • The Practice’s employees, as required by their employment conditions;
  • Attorneys, tracing agents, debt collectors and other persons that assist with the enforcement of agreements;
  • Payment processing services providers, merchants, banks and other persons that assist with the processing of your payment instructions, like third party EFT service providers;
  • Law enforcement and fraud prevention agencies and other persons tasked with the prevention and prosecution of crime;
  • Regulatory authorities, industry ombudsmen, governmental departments, local and international tax authorities and other persons the law requires us to share your Personal Information with;
  • Service providers, agents and sub-contractors like couriers and other persons the Practice uses to offer and provide products and services to you;
  • Persons to whom the Practice has ceded its rights or delegated its obligations to under agreements, such as the sale of a business;
  • Courts of law or tribunals that require the Personal Information to adjudicate referrals, arbitrations, actions or applications;
  • Trustees, Executors or Curators appointed by a court of law or in accordance with the law;
  • Participating partners in customer loyalty reward programmes, where you purchase goods, products and services or spend loyalty rewards; and/or
  • The Practice’s joint venture and other partners with whom it has concluded business agreements, for your benefit.

 

Under what circumstances may the Practice transfer your Personal or other information to other countries?

The Practice will only transfer your Personal Information to third parties in another country in any one or more of the following circumstances:

  • Where your Personal Information will be adequately protected under the other country’s laws or an agreement with the third party recipient;
  • Where the transfer is necessary to enter into or perform under a contract with you, or a contract with a third party that is in your interest;
  • Where you have consented to the transfer; and/or
  • Where it is not reasonably practical to obtain your consent, the transfer is in your interest. This transfer will take place within the requirements and safeguards of the prevailing law. Where possible, the party Processing your Personal Information (in the other country) will agree to apply the same level of protection as available by law in South Africa (if in South Africa) or your country of residence (if outside South Africa) or if the other country’s laws provide better protection the other country’s laws would be agreed to and applied. An example of transferring your Personal Information to another country is where foreign payments take place if you purchase goods or services in a foreign country, or request that the Practice facilitates payments in those countries.

 

What are your duties and rights about the Personal Information the Practice has about you?

  • You must provide proof of identity when enforcing the rights;
  • You must inform the Practice when your personal information changes. Please refer to the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (Act No. 2 of 2000), as amended and the Practice’s Manual (PAIA Manual) for further information on how you can give effect to the rights listed below;
  • You have the right to request access to the Personal Information the Practice has on you by contacting the Practice. This includes requesting:
    • Confirmation that the Practice holds your Personal Information;
    • A copy or description of the record containing your Personal Information; and
    • The identity or categories of third parties who have had access to your Personal Information;
  • The Practice will attend to requests for access to Personal Information within a reasonable time;
  • You may be required to pay a reasonable fee to receive copies or descriptions of records, or information about third parties;
  • The Practice will inform you of the fee before attending to your request;
  • Please note that the law may limit your right to access information;
  • You have the right to request the Practice to correct or delete the Personal Information the Practice has about you if it is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading, obtained unlawfully or the Practice is no longer authorised to keep it;
  • You must inform the Practice of your request in writing. Please refer to our PAIA Manual for further information in this regard, in particular, the process you should follow to give effect to this right;
  • It may take up to 15 (fifteen) business days for the change to reflect on the applicable system;
  • The Practice has the right, but not the obligation, to request documents from you to verify the change in Personal Information;
  • A specific agreement that you have entered into with the Practice may determine how you must change your Personal Information provided at the time when you entered into the specific agreement;
  • Please adhere to these requirements. If the law requires the Practice to keep the Personal Information, it will not be deleted upon your request. The deletion of certain Personal Information may lead to the termination of your relationship with the Practice;
  • You may object on reasonable grounds to the Processing of your Personal Information;
  • The Practice will not be able to give effect to your objection if the Processing of your Personal Information was and is permitted by law; you have provided consent to the Processing and the Processing was done according to your consent or the Processing is necessary to conclude or perform under a contract with you;
  • You must inform the Practice of any objection in writing. Please refer to our PAIA Manual for further information in this regard, like the process you should follow to give effect to this right;
  • Where you have provided your consent for the processing of your Personal Information, you may withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent the Practice may explain the consequences to you. The Practice may proceed to Process your Personal Information even if you have withdrawn your consent if the law permits or requires it. It may take up to 15 (fifteen) business days for the change to reflect on the system, during this time the Practice may still Process your Personal Information.
  • You have a right to file a complaint with the Practice or any Regulator with jurisdiction about an alleged contravention of the protection of your Personal Information. The Practice will address your complaint as far as possible.

 

How will the Practice secure your personal information?

The Practice will take appropriate and reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect your personal information according to industry best practices. The security measures (including physical, technological and procedural safeguards) will be appropriate and reasonable, and include the following:

  • Keeping the system secure (like monitoring access and usage);
  • Storing records securely;
  • Controlling the access to buildings, systems and/or records;
  • Safely destroying or deleting records; and/or
  • Ensuring compliance with international security standards.

 

How long will the Practice keep your Personal Information?

The Practice will keep your Personal Information for as long as:

  • The law requires the Practice to keep such information;
  • A contract between you and the Practice requires it to keep such information;
  • You have consented to the Practice keeping such information;
  • The Practice is required to keep such information to achieve the purposes listed in the Privacy Policy;
  • The Practice requires such information for statistical or research purposes;
  • A code of conduct requires the Practice to keep such information; and/or
  • The Practice requires such information for its lawful business purposes .Note: The Practice may keep your Personal Information even if you no longer have a relationship with it, for the historical data that may be required by your employer or an employee,

whichever is the later.