Privacy Policy

Last updated: November 2026

1. Who we are

HOLESA is a community-safety platform for South Africa. HOLESA is the "responsible party" under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). Information Officer: Steven du Preez, info@holesa.co.za.

2. What we collect

Community members: first name, email address, town/suburb and province.
Businesses: business name, contact person, business email, optional phone number, type of business, town and province.
Consent records: the date and time you gave consent and which options you ticked.
Reports (once the app launches): the report content, location and optional photos you choose to submit.
Public business contact details, such as the business name and general email address, collected only from the business’s own website or an official directory.
We do not ask for ID numbers and do not knowingly collect special personal information.

3. Why we use it

To register you and tell you when the app launches.
To create and manage free Local Hub business listings.
To review, label and display safety reports (reporters are never named publicly).
To send updates, only if you opted in.
To send direct marketing to businesses using their public business contact details. Every email includes an easy way to unsubscribe, and we never contact anyone again who has unsubscribed.
To meet legal obligations and keep the platform safe.

4. Legal basis

We process your information with your consent, to take steps you requested (such as a listing), and where we have a legitimate interest in keeping communities informed and the platform safe. We send direct marketing to businesses using their public business contact details on the basis of legitimate interest, with an unsubscribe option in every email.

5. Sharing

We never sell your personal information.
We share it only with service providers who help us run HOLESA (such as hosting and email), under written confidentiality and security obligations, or where the law requires it.
If a service provider stores data outside South Africa, we make sure it is protected to a standard comparable to POPIA.

6. Security and retention

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information. We keep it only as long as needed for the purposes above, or as required by law, and then delete or anonymise it.

7. Your rights

Ask what information we hold about you and get a copy.
Ask us to correct or delete your information.
Object to processing or withdraw consent at any time.
Unsubscribe from updates at any time.
Email info@holesa.co.za. We respond within 30 days.

8. Complaints

You may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa): inforeg.org.za, complaints.IR@inforegulator.org.za.

9. Children

HOLESA is meant for people aged 18 and older. Younger users need a parent or guardian’s consent.

10. Changes

We may update this policy. Material changes will be posted on this page.

Questions: info@holesa.co.za. Emergency: 10111 / 112.