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Terms of Service

Effective 12 May 2026 · Last updated 12 May 2026 · Version 2026.05.1

Introduction

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the Privately platform operated by Privately Property (Pty) Ltd(“Privately”, “we”, “us”). By creating an account or using the service you agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

Definitions

  • Service — the Privately website, applications and related features.
  • Seller — a user who lists a property for sale on the Service.
  • Buyer — a user who browses, enquires about or makes offers on properties.
  • Attorney — a conveyancing attorney with whom buyers and sellers transact off-platform once an offer is accepted.
  • Listing — a property page created by a Seller.
  • Bid or Offer — a non-binding expression of interest in a property submitted through the Service. See section “Offers, bids & acceptance” for legal effect.

Eligibility & account

  • You must be at least 18 years old to use the Service.
  • You must be legally permitted to enter into contracts in South Africa.
  • You must provide accurate, current and complete account information and keep it up to date.
  • You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for any activity that occurs under your account.
  • You must notify us immediately at info@privatelyproperty.com of any unauthorised use of your account.

What the service is and isn’t

Privately is a marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of residential property in South Africa. Privately:

  • is a tool for sellers to list and advertise their property, and for buyers to discover, enquire and make offers;
  • is not an estate agent. We are not registered with the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority and do not act as an intermediary, negotiator or fiduciary in any transaction;
  • does not transfer ownership of property — transfer is handled by an attorney chosen by the parties at the deeds office;
  • does not hold funds in trust, escrow or otherwise. Deposits, transfer costs and the purchase price flow between the buyer, seller and their chosen attorney.

Listings & disclosure

  • Sellers must own the property they list, or be authorised by every registered owner to list it.
  • Listings must be truthful, accurate and not misleading. Photos must be of the actual property and not materially altered.
  • Sellers must complete the disclosure form required by the Property Practitioners Act, 2019, before publishing a listing. Inaccurate or incomplete disclosure may give the buyer remedies under South African law.
  • Listing prices must be in South African Rand (ZAR) and reflect the seller’s genuine asking price.
  • We may remove or unpublish any listing that breaches these Terms, South African law or our content rules.

Offers, bids & acceptance

Offers submitted through the Service are not a binding Offer to Purchase. The legally binding agreement for the sale of land is a signed written Offer to Purchase prepared and signed off-platform, as required by the Alienation of Land Act, 1981 (Act 68 of 1981). Acceptance inside the platform is an expression of intent and an instruction to draw up that written agreement through your chosen attorney.

  • Either party may withdraw an in-platform offer at any time before the written Offer to Purchase is signed.
  • Sellers may accept, reject or counter any offer in their sole discretion.
  • You agree not to submit offers or counter-offers in bad faith (for example to manipulate other buyers or for entertainment).

Viewings

  • Viewings are arranged directly between buyer and seller through the Service. Privately does not attend or supervise viewings.
  • You attend viewings at your own risk. We recommend bringing a second person and informing someone of your whereabouts.
  • Buyers must not damage the property, remove items or photograph neighbours or staff without consent.
  • Sellers must give a fair opportunity to view and must not discriminate unlawfully against any buyer (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996; Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 2000).

Fees & payments

  • Privately charges a once-off platform-access fee of R 499 (incl. VAT where applicable) per account. This fee gives ongoing access to the paid features of the Service.
  • The fee is collected by our payment processor (PayFast). We do not store your card details.
  • The first 100 verified accounts may receive free platform access at our discretion. We will tell you which tier you are on before payment.
  • We may add new paid features in the future. Any new fee will be disclosed clearly before you opt in.

Refund policy

The platform-access fee is non-refundable once your account has been granted access, except where required by the Consumer Protection Act, 2008. If you believe a fee was charged in error, contact info@privatelyproperty.com within 14 days of the charge and we will investigate in good faith.

User conduct

You agree not to:

  • create fake or duplicate accounts, or impersonate another person;
  • list a property you do not own or have authority to sell;
  • post any unlawful, harassing, defamatory, discriminatory or sexually explicit content;
  • attempt to circumvent verification, payment or security controls;
  • scrape, crawl or harvest data from the Service except through a documented API we provide;
  • contact other users for any purpose unrelated to a specific listing (no marketing, recruitment or spam);
  • use the Service to launder money or in breach of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 (FICA);
  • interfere with, or attempt to gain unauthorised access to, any part of the Service.

Verification & FICA

Some features require buyer verification (for example, viewing seller contact details or submitting an offer above a threshold). Where you choose to verify, you authorise us to receive verification results from third-party providers and to store the supporting documents you upload for FICA-required retention periods. You can request deletion of verification documents after the FICA retention window expires.

Your content & licence

You retain ownership of the content you submit (listings, photos, messages, disclosures). You grant Privately a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to host, display, reproduce and distribute your content for the purpose of operating and promoting the Service. The licence is perpetual only to the extent reasonably necessary for compliance, dispute resolution and aggregated market analysis after you remove the content.

Intellectual property

The Privately name, logo, software, design system and all proprietary documentation are owned by Privately Property (Pty) Ltd. You may not copy, modify, reverse-engineer or create derivative works of the Service except as permitted by law.

Third-party services

The Service integrates with third-party providers (for example PayFast, Google Maps, Lightstone, bond originators, attorneys). Your dealings with those providers are governed by their own terms. We are not responsible for any act or omission of a third party.

Disclaimer

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available”. We make no warranty that listings are accurate, that property descriptions are correct, that a buyer will pay or that a seller will transfer. Buyers must conduct their own due diligence (inspections, valuations, bond approval). Sellers must obtain their own legal advice. To the maximum extent permitted by the Consumer Protection Act, 2008, all implied warranties are excluded.

Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Privately, its directors, employees and agents are not liable for:

  • any loss of profit, opportunity, data or goodwill;
  • any indirect, incidental, consequential, special or punitive damages;
  • the conduct of any other user, including misrepresentation, breach of contract or unlawful act;
  • loss caused by force majeure events outside our reasonable control.

Where liability cannot be excluded, our aggregate liability to you for any cause of action will not exceed the platform-access fees you have paid in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, gross negligence, or any other liability that cannot be excluded under South African law.

Indemnity

You indemnify Privately against all claims, damages, losses and reasonable legal costs arising from (a) your use of the Service, (b) your breach of these Terms, (c) any content you submit, or (d) your dealings with another user or third party introduced through the Service.

Suspension & termination

  • You may close your account at any time from Privacy & data — there is a 30-day grace period before hard deletion.
  • We may suspend or terminate access if you breach these Terms, fail verification, or if we are required to do so by law. We will give reasonable notice where practical.
  • Sections that by their nature should survive (intellectual property, disclaimer, liability, indemnity, governing law) survive termination.

Disputes & governing law

  • These Terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa.
  • The parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the South African courts.
  • Before going to court, the parties will attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute through written negotiation for 30 days, and may refer the dispute to mediation under the rules of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA).

Changes to these terms

We may amend these Terms from time to time. We will email account holders and post a notice at least 14 days before a material change takes effect. Continued use of the Service after the effective date is acceptance of the new Terms.

General

  • Entire agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and Privately about the Service.
  • Severability. If any provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions stay in effect.
  • No waiver. A failure by us to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to enforce it later.
  • Assignment. You may not assign your rights without our consent. We may assign these Terms to an affiliate or successor on notice.
  • Notices. We will give notice via the email address on your account. You can give notice to info@privatelyproperty.com.

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