1. Introduction

1. These terms and conditions together with our Privacy Policy and User Rules (collectively, the "Terms") will form a written contract between you and Free State Umbrella FPA (FSUFPA) our directors, officers, affiliates, partners, members, associates, agents, representatives, intermediaries, officials and/or employees ("FSUFPA ", "we", "us" and "our") and will govern our relationship and your use of our Platforms and/or Services. When we refer to "Platforms" we mean all our websites, mobile sites, mobile apps, emails, social media platforms or any other technology or mechanism you may use to interact with us. "Services" refer to any products, goods, services or functionality offered, owned or operated by FSUFPA via our Platforms.
2. The general use of our Services, Platforms and any content on our Platforms is governed by our Terms. "Content" refers to any information, data, files, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, images, video, messages, comments, hyperlinks or tags and other material appearing on our Platforms or Services and all applicable copyrights, trademarks, patents, logos or other intellectual property rights displayed on our Platforms or Services.
3. We may amend the Terms from time to time. Any new version of the Terms will be published on our Platforms and will become effective from the date that we first published it. It is your obligation to visit our Platforms on a regular basis in order to determine whether any amendments have been made. By continuing to use our Platforms and/or Services after we published changes to the Terms, you agree to be bound by the changed Terms.
4. Some of our Platforms and/or Services may contain additional rules or terms from time to time, which may be relevant to specific Services you use or subscribe to. By using those Services, you agree to be bound by such additional rules and/or terms. By accessing any Platforms or Services, you agree that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by the Terms of Use which are posted on the Platforms or Services at the time of such access and use.
5. Additional terms and conditions may apply to particular information, content, services, applications or any other aspect of the Platforms or Services or to products and/or services provided by us ("Additional Terms"). In the event of conflict between these Terms of Use and the Additional Terms, the provisions in these Terms of Use will prevail.
6. Please note that the following are hereby incorporated into the Website Terms and Conditions: Our Privacy Policy and User Rules and Responsibilities.



2. Hardware, Software and Internet Access

1. It is your responsibility to acquire and maintain, at your expense, the computer hardware and software, telecommunications facilities and internet access service ("IT Facilities") in order to access and use the Platforms or Services.
2. You must ensure, prior to accessing the Platforms or Services at any time, that the Platforms or Services is compatible with your IT Facilities and that your IT Facilities are sufficient in order for you to access and use the Platforms or Services.
3. You agree not to access, or attempt to access, the Platforms or Services by any means other than through the interface that is provided by us.
4. We will not be responsible for your inability to access and/or use the Platforms or Services, either optimally or at all, if you do not comply with clauses 6, 7 and 8 of the Terms of Use.



3. Allowed Use and Licence

1. You may only access and use the Platforms or Services, or any of the information or materials provided on the Platforms or Services, in a lawful manner, for your private and non-commercial purposes, and in accordance with the Terms of Use, and not for any commercial or other non-private purposes, unless our prior written consent is obtained.
2. You may cache the Platforms or Services provided that:
1. the purpose of the caching is to make the onward transmission or download of the content from the Platforms or Services more efficient;
2. you do not modify, reproduce, interfere with the cached data or content in any manner whatsoever, or otherwise use the cached data or content in a manner not authorised by us in these Terms of Use; and
3. you update, or remove from your computer system, the cached data or content if we request you to do so.
3. No person may frame the Platforms or Services in any manner without our prior written consent.
4. Other than bona-fide search engine operators and the use of the search facility provided on the Platforms or Services, no person may use, or attempt to use, any technology or applications (such as web-crawlers, web-spiders, robots, harvesting bots or scrapers) to search the Platforms or Services for any purposes without our prior written consent.



4. Restriction of Access to Platforms or Services

1. Subject to these Terms of Use, you may access this Platforms or Services for free. However, access to some of the pages on the Platforms or Services may be restricted to authorised persons who are registered for access to the restricted pages on the Platforms or Services by providing their username/email address and creating a password.


5. Hyperlinks
1. Subject to these Terms of Use, you may hyperlink to the Platforms or Services from another website.
2. When you hyperlink to the Platforms or Services from another website, you do so at your own risk.
3. We may provide hyperlinks to websites which are not owned and/or controlled by us ("Third Party Websites"). Such links do not imply any endorsement of, agreement with, or support for the information on or content of those Third-Party Websites by us.
4. We do not editorially control the information or content on those Third Party Websites and neither we, nor any person we control or who controls us ("Affiliate") will be responsible in any manner whatsoever, for your access, or inability to access, such Third Party Websites, or for any information or content made available on or through such Third Party Websites, or for any loss, liability or damage which you may suffer as a result of access to a Third Party Website through a link on the Platforms or Services.



6. Security

1. You may not, whether intentionally or negligently, do, or attempt to do, anything to interfere with or disrupt the Platforms or Services, or compromise the security or stability of the Platforms or Services, including, without limitation, by delivering, or attempting to deliver, any damaging code (such as computer viruses, worms and trojan horses) or other damaging or destructive component to the Platforms or Services, or the server and computer network that support the Platforms or Services.
2. You are responsible for the security and proper use of your username and password.



7. You must take all reasonable steps practically possible to prevent compromising the security and stability of the Platforms or Services.




8. Privacy

1. The Privacy Policy sets out what personal information we collect from you when you use the Platforms or Services, how we collect your personal information, why we collect it and how we use it, and related matters. Please read the Privacy Policy carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal information and how we treat it and contact us if you need clarity or assistance.
2. The terms of our Privacy Policy are incorporated in these Terms of Use, and you agree to be bound by the Privacy Policy as if its provisions have been included in these Terms and Conditions in full.



9. Intellectual Property Rights and Content Use

1. All intellectual property on the FSUFPA Platforms or Services, including but not limited to software, information, content, design elements, databases, text, graphics, drawings, images, icons, logos, trade names, service marks, hyperlinks and domain name(s), whether registered or not (the "Intellectual Property") is the property of, or is licensed to, us and/or our Affiliates.
2. These Terms of Use should not be construed as granting you any licence or right to use the Intellectual Property without our prior written consent.
3. Without limiting the scope of clause 9.a), you specifically undertake not to copy, reproduce, modify, reverse engineer, adapt, publish, sell, distribute, transmit, broadcast, disseminate, exploit, or in any other way unlawfully use the Intellectual Property, or any aspect thereof.
4. All our Intellectual Property rights are expressly reserved.
5. Free State Umbrella FPA owns or is entitled to use all the Content made available on our Platforms or through our Services.
6. You may not, unless with our express consent -
1. reproduce, publish, perform, broadcast, make an adaptation of, sell, lease, offer, expose or otherwise transfer or use for commercial purposes any Content;
2. decompile or reverse engineer the Content, or reduce the Content to any format other than the format in which they were delivered;
3. incorporate the Content into any other content for whatever purpose;
4. remove any legal notices (copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notices) in or on the Content; or
5. You may retrieve, store, cite or refer to or print Content from any of our Platforms or Services for educational, research, non-commercial, private or personal use only, as provided for under South African copyright law subject to the POPI Act.
7. Use of Content in electronic clipping services or personalised news services shall only be allowed if such electronic clipping service or personalised news service -
1. does not copy or provide the whole article, as it appears on our Platforms or Services, but only provide a short summary of the contents of the article;
2. acknowledges us as the source of the Content and acknowledges authors, photographers and third-party agencies as they are acknowledged on our Platform;
3. provides a correct and working hyperlink to the source of the Content or article on our Platform; and
4. includes the date upon which the Content was sourced from our Platforms in the summary of the Content.
8. Use of Content by news aggregators shall only be allowed if such news aggregators -
1. provides a correct and working hyperlink to the source of the Content or article on our Platform; and
2. You may quote small and reasonable amounts of Content available from our Platforms only if such quote is placed in inverted commas, the author is acknowledged and a hyperlink to the quoted Content is provided.
3. All licenses and/or permissions granted in terms of this clause are provided on a non-exclusive and non-transferable basis and may be terminated or cancelled by us at any time without giving reasons therefore.



10. Your Content

1. You will retain ownership of any original Content which you may upload, transmit or store when using our Platforms or Services.
2. Free State Umbrella FPA will own all compilations, collective works or derivative works created by us which may incorporate your Content.
3. You grant us an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide and royalty-free right and license to use, publicly display, publish, publicly perform, reproduce, distribute, broadcast, adapt, modify and promote on any medium, your Content which you may upload or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas on our Platforms or through our Services.
4. Any content you transmit or post to publicly accessible areas on our Platforms or Services shall be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. We shall have no obligations with respect to such Content.
5. You agree to adhere to our User Rules when posting or transmitting any Content or material to our Platforms or Services.



11. Disclaimers

1. In this clause references to Free State Umbrella FPA , "we", or "us" includes our directors, officers, affiliates, partners, members, associates, agents, representatives, intermediaries, officials and/or employees.
2. To the full extent permitted by applicable law:
1. We make no representations and give no warranties, whether expressly or implicitly, as to the Platforms or Services or the information provided on the Platforms or Services, and specifically, but without limitation, make no representations and give no warranty:
1. that the Platforms or Services will be tailored to meet your personal requirements or expectations;
2. of the time within which the Platforms or Services will be updated, or that access to the Platforms or Services will be uninterrupted or error-free; or
3. that the information provided on the Platforms or Services will be true, complete, accurate or reliable.
2. We will not be responsible, and disclaim all liability, for any loss, liability, injury, expense or damage (whether direct, indirect, incidental, punitive or consequential) of any nature, arising from negligence, and which is suffered by any person who accesses, uses or relies on the Platforms or Services. Without limiting the generality of this clause, we will not be responsible for any loss, liability or damage of any nature incurred by whomever and resulting directly or indirectly from:
1. access to the Platforms or Services;
2. inability to access, or delays or difficulty in accessing, the Platforms or Services, to the extent that such inability, delay or failure results from causes beyond our reasonable control;
3. access to any websites linked to the Platforms or Services;
4. inability to access, or delays or difficulty in accessing, any websites linked to the Platforms or Services;
5. access to, use of, or reliance on information or content available on the Platforms or Services;
6. without limiting the scope of this clause, any content posted by third parties on the Platforms or Services;
7. services available from the Platforms or Services;
8. our delay or failure to fulfil our obligations under these Terms of Use to the extent that such delay or failure results from causes beyond our reasonable control; or any negligent act or omission of ours or our consultants, agents or employees.
3. FSUFPA also makes no warranty or representation, whether express or implied, that the information or files available on the Website are free of viruses, spyware, malware, trojans, destructive materials or any other data or code which is able to corrupt, destroy, compromise, disrupt, disable, harm, jeopardise or otherwise impede in any manner the operation, stability, security functionality or content of your computer system, network, hardware or software in any way. You accept all risk associated with the existence of such viruses, destructive materials or any other data or code which is able to corrupt, compromise, jeopardise, disrupt, disable, harm or otherwise impede in any manner the operation or content of a computer system, computer network, handset or mobile device, or your hardware or software, save where such risks arise due to the gross negligence or wilful misconduct of FSUFPA, its employees, agents or authorised representatives.



12. Third party software, goods and services

1. We may offer services or products of third parties, or our Services in conjunction with that of third parties.
2. We provide such services or products subject to the terms, conditions and limitations imposed by those third parties.
3. If those third parties change, suspend or stop providing such services or products, we may similarly change, suspend or stop providing it to you. We may nevertheless endeavour to provide such a service in another way or by using another supplier or service provider.
4. When you acquire services or products from a third party through any of our Platforms or services, you understand and agree that -
1. we are not a party to the contract between you and the third party;
2. we are under no obligation to monitor the third-party service used by you;
3. the third party will be responsible for all obligations under the contract including (without limitation) warranties or guarantees;
4. you will evaluate the product or service and the applicable terms and conditions before acquiring the product or service.



13. Cost of Services or products

1. Costs associated with any products and services we offer are specified on the Platforms or Services and are subject to change. Where costs are associated with any product or service changes to the prices will be updated on the relevant Platforms or Services from time to time.
2. Reference to any subscription fee" on the Platforms or Services means the subscription fee to receive the service excluding any hardware used to access the FSU FPA Service.



14. Time, Place, Manner and Attribution of Data Messages

1. The parties agree to the following:
1. All email communications between you and us must make use of the read receipt function to serve as proof that an email has been received.
2. Authentication methods such as electronic signatures or encryption techniques are not required for purposes of communications between you and us;
3. Any Data Messages that are sent by you to us from a computer, IP address or mobile device normally used by or owned by you will be deemed to have been sent to us by you, or on your behalf by a person duly authorised by you.



15. Amendment of Platforms or Services and Terms of Use

1. You agree that we may from time to time vary or discontinue the information, content, services, applications or any other aspect of the Platforms or Services, and change the IT Facilities required to access and use the Platforms or Services or the information, content, services and applications on the Platforms or Services.
2. Such a change will not affect our or your rights and obligations in respect of a transaction or agreement between us which is already complete at the time of such change.
3. All permissions granted in these Terms of Use are provided on a non-exclusive and non-transferable basis.
4. We may, at any time, amend these Terms of Use.
5. We will notify you of the changes at least by sending you an email, through a pop-up notice when you access the Platforms or Services, or through a pop-up notice when you log into your Free State Umbrella FPA Account.
6. In the event of conflict or inconsistency between these Terms of Use and any other terms and conditions relating to another product or service offered by FSUFPA or a third party, the provisions in these Terms of Use will prevail in relation to the FSUFPA Service and the provisions of the other terms and conditions will prevail in relation to the other product or service.



16. Termination of the Platforms or Services

1. We may terminate the Platforms or Services, or any aspect thereof, at any time.
2. Our Privacy Policy, concerning our Intellectual property will survive the termination of these Terms of Use for any reason whatsoever.



17. Entire Agreement and Variation

1. These Terms of Use, as amended by us from time to time, constitute the entire agreement between us and you in relation to its subject matter and supersede any previous agreement between you and us.
2. In the event that any provision detailed herein is found to be unenforceable or invalid for any reason, such terms or conditions will be severable from the remaining terms and conditions, and the remaining terms and conditions will remain enforceable and applicable.



18. Legal costs

1. We will not be responsible for any costs incurred by you to obtain professional advice relating to these Terms of Use.



19. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

1. These Terms and Conditions and our relationship and/or any dispute arising from or in connection with these Terms and Conditions shall be governed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Your continued use of the Website will constitute your consent and submission to the jurisdiction of the South African courts regarding all proceedings, transactions, applications or the like instituted by either party against the other, arising from any of these Terms and Conditions.
2. In the event of any dispute arising between you and FSUFPA, you hereby consent to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court of the Republic of South Africa (Bloemfontein Division) notwithstanding that the quantum in the action or proceedings may otherwise fall below the monetary jurisdiction of that court.



20. Breach

1. Without prejudice to any other rights we may have, we may claim damages from any person who contravenes these Terms of Use and as a result of which we suffer any loss, liability, harm or damage.
2. Any relaxation or indulgence which we may show to you from time to time or any failure by a party to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms of Use is without prejudice to and does not constitute a waiver of any right or provision either in these Terms of Use or any applicable law. No waiver will be effective unless it is expressly stated to be a waiver and is communicated to you in writing.

We respect your privacy and will take reasonable measures to protect it, as more fully detailed below.

1. What Information is obtained for in order to assist Fire Protection Associations with Integrated Wildfire Management as per the mandate provided in the National Veld and Forest Fire Act, Act 101 of 1998 to comply with the provisions of Section 5 of the Act.




In addition to the above Fire Protection Associations as Community Based Non-Profit Organisations must ideally comply with the Codes of Good Conduct as required by the NPO Act, Act 71 of 1997.


2. We obtain information about you in the following ways:



1. Information you give us. This includes any information that you provide to us directly, whether through our Platforms or via phone, sms, fax or any other medium, this may include information you give to us:
1. by filling in forms on our Platforms. Like when you register as an FPA member or when you subscribe or register to use services on our Platforms;
2. by posting comments or content on our Platforms;
3. when you contact us and when you otherwise provide information directly to us.
2. Information we collect or receive when you use our Platforms, products or services - We collect information when you use our Platforms or services by using cookies, beacons and other technologies.
3. We receive:
1. Log information (for example information about your interactions with our Platforms and other services you use, the content you view and the search queries you submit);
2. Device information (for example the type of device you're using, how you access our Platforms, your browser or operating system and your Internet Protocol ("IP") address);
3. Location information (for example, your device's GPS signal and information about nearby WiFi networks and cell towers. We get this information when you use location-enabled services).
4. Information from third-party sources - We may receive additional information about you that is publicly available through interaction with our Platforms when you choose to connect with social networking services linked to our Platforms.



3. 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.



4. Should your personal information change, you must provide us with updates to your personal information as soon as reasonably possible to ensure that your information remains current.



5. Subject to clause 6 below, we will not, without your express consent:



1. use your personal information for any purpose other than as set out below:
1. in relation to performing the duties and providing the services as set out in Section 1 of this policy
2. to inform you of training, products or services that is provided by us, our affiliates, partners or vetted suppliers relevant to fulfilling the mandate as set out in Section 1
3. to inform you of emergencies, pending weather conditions or any other relevant information that is deemed to be necessary in the broader context of Disaster Management.
4. to improve services, increase compliance or share knowledge or information that is relevant to maintain compliance as described in Section 1; or
2. disclose your personal information to any third party other than as set out below:
1. to our employees and/or third-party service providers who assist us to interact with you via our Website, email or any other method and thus need to know your personal information in order to assist us to communicate with you properly and efficiently;
2. to our, affiliates and/or partners (including their employees and/or third party service providers) in order for them to interact directly with you via email or any other method for purposes of sending you relevant information, warnings, updates or coordinate actions, or other matters related to wildfire and disaster management;
3. to law enforcement, government officials, fraud detection agencies or other third parties when we believe in good faith that the disclosure of personal information is necessary to prevent physical harm or financial loss, to report or support the investigation into suspected illegal activity, or to investigate violations of these Terms and Conditions;
4. to relevant government officials, where reporting of incidents, statistics and other data is officially required from us. The shared data will be limited to only what is necessary for minimum reporting compliance requirements.
5. to our service providers (under contract with us) who help with parts of our operations. However, our contracts dictate that these service providers may only use your information in connection with the services they perform for us and not for their own benefit;
6. to our suppliers in order for them to liaise directly with you regarding any faulty Goods that you may have purchased which requires their involvement; and
7. to any Third-Party Seller for purposes of sending you an invoice for any Goods purchased from such Third-Party Seller, which disclosed information will be limited to your email address (refer to clause v. above).



6. We are entitled to use or disclose your personal information if such use or disclosure is required in order to comply with any applicable law, subpoena, order of court or legal process served on us, or to protect and defend our rights or property. In the event of a fraudulent online payment, FSUFPA is entitled to disclose relevant personal information for criminal investigation purposes or in line with any other legal obligation for disclosure of the personal information which may be required of it.



7. We will ensure that all our employees, third party service providers, divisions, affiliates and partners (including their employees and third-party service providers) having access to your personal information are bound by appropriate and legally binding confidentiality obligations in relation to your personal information.



8. We will -



1. treat your personal information as strictly confidential, save where we are entitled to share it as set out in this policy;
2. take appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure that your personal information is kept secure and is protected against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage, alteration, disclosure or access;
3. provide you with access to your personal information to view and/or update personal details;
4. promptly notify you if we become aware of any unauthorised use, disclosure or processing of your personal information;
5. provide you with reasonable evidence of our compliance with our obligations under this policy on reasonable notice and request; and
6. upon your request, promptly return or destroy any and all of your personal information in our possession or control, save for that which we are legally obliged to retain.



9. We will not retain your personal information longer than the period for which it was originally needed, unless we are required by law to do so, or you consent to us retaining such information for a longer period.



10. FSUFPA undertakes never to sell or make your personal information available to any third party other than as provided for in this policy.



11. While we will do all things reasonably necessary to protect your rights of privacy, we cannot guarantee or accept any liability whatsoever for unauthorised or unlawful disclosures of your personal information, whilst in our possession, made by third parties who are not subject to our control, unless such disclosure is as a result of our gross negligence.



12. If you disclose your personal information to a third party, such as an entity which operates a website linked to this Website or anyone other than FSUFPA, FSUFPA shall not be liable for any loss or damage, howsoever arising, suffered by you as a result of the disclosure of such information to the third party. This is because we do not regulate or control how that third party uses your personal information. You should always ensure that you read the privacy policy of any third party.



13. FSUFPA Platforms and Services in particular our Websites makes use cookies of to automatically collect information and data through the standard operation of the Internet servers. Cookies are small text files a website can use (and which we may use) to recognise repeat users, facilitate the user's on-going access to and use of a website and allow a website to track usage behaviour and compile aggregate data that will allow the website operator to improve the functionality of the website and its content. If you do not disable, you are deemed to consent to our use of information collected using those cookies, subject to the provisions of this clause 13.



14. Changes to these Terms and Conditions
1. FSUFPA may, in its sole discretion, change any of these Terms and Conditions at any time. It is your responsibility to regularly check these Terms and Conditions and make sure that you are satisfied with the changes. Should you not be satisfied, you must not use, FSUFPA Platforms or Services.
2. Any such change will only apply to your use of FSUFPA Platforms and Services after the change is displayed on FSUFPA Platforms. If you use FSUFPA Platforms or Services after such amended Terms and Conditions have been displayed on any of our platforms, you will be deemed to have accepted such changes.