Privacy Policy

1. Welcome to the website of Barbara Magrietha van Zyl, a sole proprietor trading as Retha van Zyl Real Estate, (“we” / “us” or the “Business”), and thank you for reading our Privacy Policy (the/this “Policy”).

2. We are a real estate agency that helps our clients purchase or sell properties within the beautiful and serene Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate, Bloemfontein, which is situated in the Free State province within central South Africa. We help turn dreams into REALTY by providing advice to our clients about market conditions, conducting walkthroughs and property viewings, providing guidance and assistance through the process of buying, or selling properties.

3. This Policy discloses the privacy practices for our Business, online social media platforms and our website, at https://www.rethavanzyl.co.za/ (the “Website”). This Policy therefore applies to all our web pages and social media platforms related to the Business, and all Personal Information collected by us via our Website and/or social media platforms

4. Your right to privacy is important to us. As such, this Policy was compiled in strict accordance with the provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013. (“POPIA” or “the Act”) to ensure that your rights are adequately protected in line with the provisions set out in the Act. Essentially, this Policy aims to inform you of our business strategy regarding privacy and data security.

5. For this purpose, this Policy will inform you of the following:

5.1 What Personal Information (as defined in POPIA and in clause 2 below) is collected by the Website, how such information will be used and with whom it may be shared from time to time.

5.2 How the Business and specifically this Website complies with the provisions of POPIA when Processing (as defined in POPIA and in clause 2 below) your Personal Information.

5.3 What choices are available to you, the Data Subject, regarding the use of your Personal Information as set out herein.

5.4 The security measures that the Business has put in place to protect against the misuse of your Personal Information.

5.5 How you, as the Data Subject, can correct any inaccuracies in Personal Information Processed on your behalf

6. By –

6.1 accessing our Website and/or social media platforms; and/or

6.2 using our online facilities or contacting us in any manner relating to our Business,

you confirm that you have read, understand and agree to be bound by this Policy, as may be updated by us from time to time. If you do not agree to our Policy, please do not access or use our Website or social media platforms further.

The person to whom the Personal Information relates (which refers to you, in your capacity as a client of our Business).

Information relating to identifiable, living, natural persons or existing juristic persons including, but not limited to the following:
a. Information relating to the race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, national, ethnic or social origin, colour sexual orientation, age, physical or mental health, wellbeing, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth of the person;
b. Information relating to the education or the medical, financial, criminal or employment history of the person;
c. Any identifying number, symbol, email address, physical address, telephone number, location information, online identifier or other particular assignment to the person;
d. The biometric information of the person;
e. The personal opinions, views or preferences of the person;
f. Correspondence sent by the person that is implicitly or explicitly of a private or confidential nature or further correspondence that would reveal the contents of the original correspondence;
g. The views or opinions of another individual about the person; and
h. The name of the person if it appears with other personal information relating to the person or if the disclosure of the name itself would reveal information about the person.

Means the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.

The processing of Personal Information involves any collection, use, storage, deletion or destruction of Personal Information. The processing of Personal Information is of an ongoing nature and compliance with the provisions of POPIA must be in place for as long as the Personal Information is being processed and stored, and “Process” and “Processed” in this context shall have a corresponding meaning.

A private body or any other person which alone or in conjunction with others, determines the purpose of and means of processing Personal Information (which in the context of this Website, refers to the Business).

A person who processes Personal Information for a responsible party in terms of a contract or mandate, without coming under the direct authority of that party.

1. Validity and binding nature of this Policy

This Policy governs your relationship with us and constitutes a valid and binding agreement between you, the user, and the Business. The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (“ECTA”) provides for valid and binding contracts to be concluded in electronic format and to be established over the internet. Contracts concluded electronically are thus the functional equivalent of contracts concluded on paper.

2. Amended or updated terms

2.1 We reserve the right, and may in our sole discretion choose to amend our Policy at any time and in any manner that we deem appropriate. This includes the right to change, modify, add or remove portions or the whole of our Policy from time to time.

2.2 It is your responsibility to check our Website regularly to take notice of any changes we may have made to this Policy and ensure that you remain aware of and agree with the provisions of our Policy. Any amendments hereto shall be efective immediately as of the posting thereof and shall automatically bind you without further notice. Your continued use of our Website and/or social media platforms following the posting of any amendments to this Policy shall signify your acceptance of such amendments and your agreement to be bound thereby.

3. Legal Age and Capacity

3.1 No one may access our Website, use our facilities and/or accept this Policy if they lack the necessary legal capacity to enter into a valid and binding contract with the Business. It they are so lacking and continue to use our Website or interact with us on our social media platforms, such use is at own risk and the Business accepts no responsibility for such use.

3.2 We do not accept any users, or representatives of users, under 18 (EIGHTEEN) years of age or who otherwise do not have the relevant capacity to be bound by this Policy.

3.3 By accessing our Website and/or using our online facilities and related social media platforms, you warrant that you have attained majority status (18 years of age or older), are emancipated or have your parents/legal guardian's consent to be bound by this Policy. You further warrant that your legal capacity is not diminished due to mental incapacity.

1. We respect your right to privacy, as contained in section 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 108 of 1996, and which forms the cornerstone of POPIA. However, in order for us to assist you, it may be necessary for you to share some of your Personal Information with us from time to time.

2. We will take all reasonable steps to protect the Personal Information of users on our Website and social media platforms. For the purposes of this section, “Personal Information” will be understood in accordance with the definition provided in POPIA and as defined in clause 2 above. Any such Personal Information that you may share with us, and the reasons why such information is required, will depend on the nature and scope of your relationship with us.

3. We subscribe to the principles for electronically collecting Personal Information outlined in POPIA, and the further legislation referred to therein, and are committed to maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of Personal Information in our possession.

4. We use suppliers and service providers who we trust to provide services to us and sometimes that may involve sharing your information with them (such as the buyer or seller, transfer attorneys, bond attorneys and banks, as the context may require). They operate under strict requirements aimed at keeping your Personal Information secure and confidential and they will only use such information for the purpose for which we have sent it to them.

5. While we may transfer and outsource your Personal Information for operational reasons and to execute our instructions, all Personal Information submitted or provided by you will be treated confidentially and we will not sell, rent, lease or disclose your Personal Information to unauthorised third parties.

6. In the event that we are or become legally obliged to do so, we may of course also have to provide your Personal information to appropriate authorities or regulatory bodies (such as the Deeds Ofce or the Information Ofcer for example, and as the context may require).

1. Your Personal Information will not be used for any other purpose than that which is stated in this Policy. Other than as stated herein, none of your information held by us will be sold or made available to any third parties without your prior written consent, and which shall be in line with the provisions related to the protection of Personal Information as set out in POPIA.

2. By agreeing to the terms and conditions contained in this Policy, you consent to the use of your Personal Information in relation to:

2.1 The selling or purchasing of properties, and/or the provision and performance of any services obtained from us.

2.2 Informing you of changes made to our services ofered.

2.3 The provision of marketing related services to you by us, particularly in relation to property listings within Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate.

2.4 Responding to any queries or requests you may have.

2.5 Developing a more direct and substantial relationship with users and clients for the purposes described in this clause 5.

2.6 Understanding general user trends and patterns so that we can develop and support existing and ongoing marketing strategies.

2.7 For security, administrative and/or legal purposes.

2.8 For any other purpose relating to providing products and services, and when we have a legal duty to use or disclose your information.

3. By agreeing to the terms and conditions contained in this Policy, you consent that we may transfer your Personal Information to any of the following third parties, as required from time to time:

3.1 Conveyancers and transferring attorneys.

3.2 Bond attorneys or bond cancellation attorneys.

3.3 Bond originators, upon your request.

3.4 Banks and other financial service providers.

3.5 The Deeds Office.

3.6 The seller of a property in which you are interested to purchase.

3.7 The purchaser of a property which you are interested to sell.

3.8 The Hillandale Homeowners’ Association

3.9 Body Corporate and Managing Agents of sectional title complexes within Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate

4. The Personal Information that we collect from our users and clients will only be accessed by our employees, representatives, service providers and consultants on a need-to-know basis, and subject to reasonable confidentiality obligations binding such persons.

5. We store your Personal Information directly, or alternatively, store your Personal Information on, and transfer your Personal Information to, a central database. If the location of the central database is located in a country that does not have substantially similar laws which provide for the protection of Personal Information, we will take the necessary steps to ensure that your Personal Information is adequately protected in that jurisdiction.

6. Your information will not be stored for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy or as required by applicable law.

The following section explains how the Business complies with the conditions for the lawful Processing of Personal Information in accordance with POPIA.

1. Accountability

We recognise that the Act requires Personal Information to be Processed in a lawful manner in accordance with the provisions of POPIA and commit to adhere to our Policy and the Act at all times when Processing your Personal Information.

2. Processing Limitation, Purpose Specification and Further Processing Limitation

2.1 Personal Information will be Processed lawfully and in a reasonable manner that will not infringe on your privacy, this includes only Processing the Personal Information to the extent that such Processing is adequate, relevant and not excessive.

2.2 We only have access to and collect Personal Information that you voluntarily give us via email or other direct contact with you (including, but not limited to interaction on social media platforms or by means of a query via our Website). This Personal Information will not be sold or rented to any other person.

2.3 We will use your information to respond to you, regarding the reason you contacted us. We will not share your Personal Information with any third party outside of our organisation, other than as necessary to efectively provide our services to you as set out in clause 5 above.

2.4 When information is sent to any third parties, steps will be taken to ensure that they are POPIA compliant.

2.5 Unless you opt-in we will not contact you in future to tell you about specials, new listings, or changes to this Policy.

2.6 Your Personal Information will not be retained for any longer than is necessary and once it is no longer be necessary it will be de-identified.

3. Information Quality, Openness and Data Subject Participation

3.1 We will only record the Personal Information in the exact manner you provided it to us in order to ensure that it is complete, accurate and not misleading. Should you notify us we will update this information to ensure that it remains correct.

3.2 You may opt out of any future contacts from us at any time. You can do so by contacting us via the email address or phone number provided on our website.

3.3 You can also find out the following by contacting us:

3.3.1 See what Personal Information we have of you.

3.3.2 Change or correct any of your Personal Information.

3.3.3 Request that we delete any of your Personal Information.

3.3.4 Express any concern you have about our use of your Personal Information.

4. Security Safeguards

4.1 We take reasonable precautions to protect your Personal Information and it is protected both online and offline.

4.2 While we use encryption to protect Personal Information transmitted online, we also protect your Personal Information ofine. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job are granted access to Personal Information. The computers/ servers in which we store Personal Information are kept in a secure environment.

4.3 We will also take reasonable steps to ensure that you are notified in the event of any breach of security, so that you can take steps to protect yourself.

1. This Website may use cookies and tracking technology depending on the features ofered. Cookies and tracking technology are useful for gathering information such as browser type and operating system, tracking the number of visitors to our Website, and understanding how visitors use the Website. Cookies can also help to customise the Website for our users.

2. Technical information refers to all information that does not by itself identify a specific individual user. As you navigate our Website, certain technical information may be passively collected by our web server through the use of 'cookies' and/or 'server logs’ and by proceeding to use the Website you accordingly acknowledge and agree to this.

1. We take your privacy and the security of your Personal Information seriously. For this purpose, we have implemented reasonable and up-to-date security safeguards; have in place reasonable technical (electronic) and organisational (non-electronic) security measures to protect your Personal Information against accidental or intentional manipulation, loss, misuse, destruction or against unauthorised disclosure or access to the information we process; and regularly monitor our systems for possible vulnerabilities and attacks.

2. However, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be one hundred percent secure at all times. Thus, although we endeavour to ensure the integrity, security and confidentiality of Personal Information submitted and/or obtained from you, we cannot be held responsible for security breaches occurring in relation to the personal technology devices of users, such as, but not limited to, personal computers, tablets and mobile phones due to the lack of adequate virus protection software and/or spyware.

3. In addition to the above, subject to the provisions of POPIA and related legislation, we will not be held liable under any circumstances if Personal Information shared by yourself, in the manner as contemplated herein but which takes place at your own risk, is compromised, disseminated or otherwise disclosed through conduct outside our reasonable control, for example by means of hacking, infection by viruses, trojan horses or any other computer programming routines or software that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or Personal Information.

4. While we cannot prevent all security threats, or ensure and/or warrant the security of any Personal Information you provide us, we will continue to maintain and improve these security measures over time in line with legal and technological developments and will let you know of any breaches which afect your Personal Information.

1. The Website, including but not limited to the services made available via the Website (if any), may contain links to other third-party websites (including without limitation, social media platforms, payment gateways, appointment scheduling and/or live chat platforms) operated by parties other than us ("Third-Party Websites"), and over which we have no control. You are advised to use caution and discretion when searching or accessing such Third-Party Websites or clicking on third-party website links.

2. Kindly take note that if you select a link to any Third-Party Website, you may be subject to such Third-Party Website’s terms and conditions and/or other policies, which are not under our control or responsibility.

3. Users should evaluate the security and trustworthiness of any Third-Party Website before disclosing any personal Information to them. We do not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage in whatever manner, howsoever caused, resulting from your disclosure to third parties of Personal Information.

4. Kindly be aware that Barbara Magrietha van Zyl Trading as Retha van Zyl Real Estate is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of Third-Party Websites in any manner whatsoever.

You will only receive direct marketing if you consent to receiving such information or if you are one of our existing clients. You can opt-out at any time by contacting us and informing us that you wish to unsubscribe to such direct marketing activities and materials.

1. You have the right to know what Personal Information we have about you, to correct it and to opt-out of any direct marketing.

2. In addition to the above, you have the right to:

2.1 ask what Personal Information we hold about you;

2.2 ask what information was sent to our suppliers, service providers or any other third party;

2.3 ask us to update, correct or delete any out-of-date or incorrect Personal Information we hold about you;

2.4 unsubscribe from any direct marketing communications we may send you; and/or

2.5 object to the processing of your Personal Information.

3. Please take note that it can take us up to 21 (TWENTY-ONE) days to respond to your request in terms of this clause.

4. If you want us to delete all Personal Information we have about you, you will probably have to terminate all agreements you have with us. We cannot maintain our relationship with you without having some of your Personal Information.

5. We can refuse to delete your information if we are required by law to retain it or if we need it to protect our rights.

We welcome your comments and questions regarding this Policy.

If you have any queries or feel we are not abiding by this Policy, you should contact us immediately via telephone +27 834510511 or via the email address provided on our Contact Us page on our website at www.rethavanzyl.co.za.