Terms of use
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still placeholders — set them in config('legal').
These terms govern your use of Newspapers South Africa (the "Site"), operated by [Khwaza Media pty ltd], [76 Jan Van riebeeck Ave, Stilfontein, South Africa] ("we", "us"). By reading the Site or registering a newsroom account, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use the Site.
What the Site is
Newspapers South Africa is a directory and self-publishing platform for South African community and independent newspapers. Newsrooms register their own account, publish their own stories and PDF editions, and manage their own listing. Newspapers South Africa provides the platform; it does not write, commission or edit newsroom content, and is not itself a newspaper or a publisher of the stories that appear on it.
Reader use
You may browse, read, search and download PDF editions for personal, non-commercial use. You may not:
- scrape, systematically copy or republish content from the Site without the originating newsroom's permission;
- attempt to bypass rate limits, CAPTCHAs, or other abuse-prevention measures;
- use the Site to distribute malware, spam, or unlawful material; or
- attempt to gain unauthorised access to any account or system on the Site.
Newsroom (publisher) accounts
If you register a newsroom account:
- You are responsible for keeping your login credentials confidential and for everything published or done through your account.
- You confirm that you (or your newsroom) are entitled to publish everything you upload — text, images and PDFs — and that it does not infringe anyone's copyright, trademark, privacy or other rights.
- You confirm that your content is lawful: not defamatory, not hate speech, not harassment, and not otherwise unlawful under South African law.
- You keep ownership of your content. By publishing it on the Site, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, display and distribute it as part of operating the Site (including in listings, search results and the archive) — for as long as it stays published or, for editions, in the archive.
- A registration must be approved by an administrator before it goes live; approval is at our discretion and is not a guarantee of ongoing hosting.
Content moderation and complaints
Content on the Site is created and published by individual newsrooms, not by us — we do not pre-screen every story. That said, we may, at our discretion and without notice:
- remove or unpublish any article, edition, image or listing;
- suspend or terminate a newsroom account; or
- refuse or revoke approval of a registration —
for any reason, including a good-faith belief that content is unlawful, infringing, defamatory, or breaches these terms.
If something published on the Site is defamatory, infringes your copyright or trademark, or is otherwise unlawful, tell us and we will investigate promptly. Include the URL of the content, why it's a problem, and your contact details. Email ikey@khwaza.co.za. We are not responsible for content we are not aware of, but we will act on reports we receive.
Intellectual property
Newspaper names, logos and mastheads shown on the Site belong to their respective newsrooms and are shown for identification purposes only; Newspapers South Africa claims no ownership over them. The Site's own design, code and branding belong to [Khwaza Media pty ltd].
Advertising
We may display Google AdSense advertising to help fund the Site. Ads are served by Google and its partners under their own terms; we do not control which specific ads are shown.
No warranty
The Site and everything published on it are provided "as is", without warranties of any kind. We do not warrant that newsroom content is accurate, complete or up to date, that the Site will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that defects will be corrected.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by South African law, [Khwaza Media pty ltd] is not liable for any indirect, incidental or consequential loss arising from your use of the Site, from content published by a newsroom, or from any linked third-party service (including advertising). Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Changes and termination
We may update these terms from time to time; continuing to use the Site after a change means you accept the new terms. We may suspend or discontinue the Site, or any account, at any time.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and any dispute is subject to the jurisdiction of the South African courts.