Terms and conditions
1. Definitions And Interpretation In this agreement, the words hereunder will have the meanings assigned to them below, however the clause headings contained in this Agreement are for reference purposes only and shall not be used in the interpretation of this Agreement and words importing any one gender includes the other gender, the singular includes the plural and vice versa, and natural persons includes juristic entities and vice versa. 1.1 "Agreement" means these Standard Terms and Conditions and any Application Form, Schedule(s), Annexure(s) and attachments hereto; 1.2 "Service Schedule" means the Service Specification Schedule attached hereto wherein the details and costs of the Service/s are specified; 1.3 "Customer" means the party specified as the Customer on the Application Form to which these Standard Terms and Conditions are attached; 1.4 “Customer Support Schedule” means the schedule containing customer support information which may be obtained from NET4 on request; 1.5 "Effective Date" means, notwithstanding the date of signature of this Agreement, the date when the Service/s is commissioned by NET4 for use by the Customer irrespective of whether or not the Customer uses the Service/s; 1.6 “NET4” means NET4 TELECOMS (PTY) LTD, a company with limited liability duly incorporated in terms of the laws of South Africa with registration number: 2020/784986/07, and with registered address at 71 Constantia Crescent, Aerorand, Middelburg mp, 1050. 1.7 “Initial Period” means the initial contract term of the Service/s, as set out in the Service Schedule (Schedule 1) hereto; 1.8 “Proprietary Information” means any and all trade secrets and data/information of a proprietary and/or confidential nature, including data/information that the parties should reasonably have known to be proprietary or confidential; 1.9 "Service/s" means all the service/s provided by NET4 as specified in the Schedules to this Agreement, including all software and equipment necessary for the provision of the Service/s; 1.10 “VAT” means Value-Added Tax as defined in the Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991. 2. Effective Date And Duration 2.1 The Effective Date of this agreement is notwithstanding the date of signature hereto, the date upon which the Customer takes delivery of services. 2.2 If at any time during the currency of the Agreement, the Customer upgrades the service, then the Effective Date in respect of the Service/s as upgraded shall be the date when the upgraded Service/s first commences. 2.3 The duration period of each of the Service/s shall be 24 (TWENTY FOUR)) month contract period. (the Initial Period). 2.4 Either party hereto shall be entitled to terminate this Agreement by way of 30 (THIRTY)days prior written notice of termination to be effective at the end of the Initial Period. 2.5 Failing notice of termination as contemplated above, the duration of the Service shall thereafter automatically renew for successive periods of 1 (ONE) year each on terms and conditions set out in the Agreement and Schedules, however, subject to 30 (THIRTY)days prior written notice of termination, effective at the end of the then current 2 (TWO) year period, and subject to an escalation in fees as stipulated herein later. 3. Charges And Payment 3.1 All Service/s provided are to be billed from the Effective Date. 3.2 In the event of a Service consisting of a number of components, billing will commence for each respective component of that Service as and when each component of that Service is in operation. 3.3 The Customer is responsible for, and agrees to pay to NET4, all fees for the Service/s specified in the Service Schedule in South African currency, without deduction or set-off of any amount of whatsoever nature or for whatsoever reason. 3.4 All prices specified in the Service Schedule exclude VAT and any other taxes and duties including any regulatory surcharge, which Customer becomes obligated to pay by virtue of this Agreement. 3.4 Invoicing will be processed and delivered in advance, and all invoices for Services shall be settled monthly within 7 days of the date of invoice. 3.5 Should any dispute arise in respect of the amount payable or in respect of the calculation of any fee or charge due and to which NET4 is entitled, the dispute shall be referred for determination to NET4 auditors who shall act as experts and who’s decision shall be final and binding on NET4 and the Customer. The cost of such determination shall be paid on demand by the party against whom the determination is made, or as determined by the said auditors. 3.6 Any amount due for payment by the Customer to NET4 in terms of this Agreement, which is not paid on due date, shall bear interest calculated from the due for payment thereof until date of payment, at the prescribed interest rate, from time to time, as prescribed in the PRESCRIBED RATE OF INTEREST ACT 55 OF 1975. Currently (1 March 2020 – 9.75% (TEN POINT TWO FIVE) percent per annum). 3.7 NET4 shall be entitled from time to time on 30 (THIRTY) days prior written notice thereof to the Customer, to increase the monthly fees referred to in the Service Schedule, provided that: 3.7.1 NET4 shall not increase the monthly fees during the first year of this Agreement; and 3.7.2 NET4 shall not increase the fees on more than one occasion in any subsequent 12 (twelve) months period of this Agreement. 4. Customer’s Obligations 4.1 The Customer shall comply strictly with all restrictions imposed on computer networks through which any information and/or data transmitted by the Customer passes. 4.2 The Customer shall not commit nor attempt to commit any act or omission which directly or indirectly: 4.2.1 damages in any way the NET4 technical infrastructure or any part thereof; 4.2.2 impairs or precludes NET4 from being able to provide the Service/s in a reasonable and business-like manner; 4.2.3 constitutes an abuse or malicious misuse of the Service/s; or is calculated to have the above mentioned effect. 4.3 In such an event, should NET4 incur expenses to remedy the situation, NET4 reserves the right to charge the Customer the amount necessary to cover NET4 additional expenditure. 4.4 It is specially recorded that NET4 shall notwithstanding the above, have the right to take any other appropriate action as it may deem necessary to remedy the situation. 4.5 The Customer is prohibited from modifying or tampering with any equipment (including but not limited to router equipment) utilized by the Customer to receive any of the Service/s, in any way whatsoever, including the changing of any of the settings of such equipment. 4.6 Should the it be found that any equipment or settings thereof have been tampered with or modified in any manner whatsoever, the Customer will be held liable for damages suffered by NET4. 4.7 The Customer shall at all times adhere to and ensure compliance with the Customer Support Schedule. 4.8 The Customer may under no circumstances whatsoever and for whatsoever reason: 4.8.1 resile from this Agreement; or 4.8.2 withhold or defer payment; 4.8.3 claim or be entitled to a reduction in any charge; or 4.8.4 have any other right or remedy against NET4, its servants, agents or any other persons for whom NET4 may be liable should NET4 interrupt the Service to the Customer under circumstances where the Customer is in default of any of its obligations under this Agreement or under circumstances contemplated in clause 6 below. 4.9 The Customer may not at any time use or abuse the Service in contravention of any South African law. 5. Warranties 5.1 Save as expressly set out herein, it is specially recorded that NET4 does not make any representations and does not give any warranties or guarantees of any nature in respect of the Service/s. 5.2 Any and all warranties which are implied or residual at common law are expressly excluded. 5.3 It is herewith expressly recorded that NET4 does not warrant or guarantee that the information transmitted by or available to Customer by way of the Service/s: 5.2.1 will be suitable for any purpose; 5.2.2 will be delivered to any or all of the intended recipients; 5.2.3 will be preserved or sustained in its entirety; 5.2.4 will be free defects, bugs or viruses of any kind; or 5.2.5 will be secured against intrusion by unauthorised third parties; 5.2.6 will be free of inaccuracies; and NET4 assumes no liability, responsibility or obligations in regard to any of the exclusions set forth above. 6. Exclusion Of Liability 6.1 It is specially recorded that NET4 shall not be liable to the Customer or any third party for any loss or damage of whatsoever nature and howsoever arising, or for any costs, claims or demands instituted against NET4 or the Customer by any party, arising directly or indirectly from the use of the Service/s,. 6.2 The Customer hereby indemnifies NET4 against and holds NET4 harmless from any claim by any third party arising directly or indirectly from access to or the use of the Service/s. 6.3 It is specially recorded that maintenance, repair and improvement of the services by NET4 will be required and executed from time to time, for which it is recorded that services may, in the absolute discretion of NET4, be suspended from time to time as required for such purpose. Any and all liability on the part of NET4 for any loss or damage (whether direct or consequential) thereby incurred or for any costs, claims, or demands of whatsoever nature arising is excluded as contemplated above. 6.4 Should the Service/s provided, include Hosting Services, NET4 will have the right, in its absolute discretion, or after the receipt of any complaint from any governmental department or other third party that the Customer’s web site: 6.4.1 contains information that infringes any third party’s rights under the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, or any other legislative enactment or regulation; or 6.4.2 is defamatory in nature;
to immediately give written notice to the Customer, demanding immediate removal, within 6 (SIX) hours of such offending information or any portion thereof from the Customer’s web site, failing which NET4 shall be entitled to remove such offending information or any portion thereof from Customer’s web site, or where it is not possible, to remove such content, to terminate the Hosting Services of such Customer. 7. Breach 7.1 Should the Customer: 7.1.1 breach any of the terms or conditions of this Agreement and fail to remedy such breach within 7 (seven) days after receipt of written notice from NET4; or 7.1.2 commit any act of insolvency; or 7.1.3 endeavours to compromise generally with its creditors; or 7.1.4 does or causes anything to be done which may prejudice NET4 rights hereunder or at all; or 7.1.5 allows any judgement against it to remain unsettled for ore than 10 (TEN) days without taking immediate steps to have it rescinded and successfully prosecuting the application for rescission to its final end; or 7.1.6 is placed in liquidation or under judicial management (in either case, whether provisionally or finally) or, being an individual, his estate is sequestrated or voluntarily surrendered; NET4 shall have the right, without prejudice to any other right which it may have against Customer, to: a. suspend or terminate the Services; b. treat as immediately due and payable all outstanding amounts which would otherwise become due and payable over the unexpired period of the Agreement, and to claim such amounts as well as any other amounts in arrears including interest and to cease performance of its obligations hereunder as well as under any other contract with the Customer until Customer has remedied the breach; and/or c. cancel this Agreement; in any event without prejudice to NET4 right to claim damages. 7.2 The Customer shall be liable for all costs incurred by NET4 in the recovery of any amounts or the enforcement of any rights which it has hereunder, including collection charges and costs on an attorney and own client scale whether incurred prior to or during the institution of legal proceedings or if judgement has been granted, in connection with the satisfaction or enforcement of such judgement. 8. Intellectual Property 8.1 Notwithstanding anything contained herein all intellectual property (including, without limitation, copyright, trade marks, designs and patents) relating to or used in connection with the Service/s provided under this Agreement is the property of NET4. 8.2 The Customer undertakes that it shall at no time, have any right, title or interest in the intellectual property and agrees that it shall not (or permit any third party to) reverse engineer, decompile, modify or tamper with the equipment or software owned by NET4, or any of its third party suppliers. 8.3 The Customer warrants that it shall not use the Service/s to produce, host or present any content in contravention of any person’s intellectual property rights, and in particular warrants that it shall at all times recognize, acknowledge and use any content in accordance with any third party’s intellectual property rights. 9. Protection of Proprietary Information 9.1 Each party will keep in confidence and protect Proprietary Information from disclosure to third parties and restrict its use to that which is provided for in this Agreement. 9.2 Either party acknowledges that unauthorized disclosure or use of Proprietary Information may cause substantial economic loss. 9.3 All printed materials, containing Proprietary Information will be marked with “Proprietary” or “Confidential”, or in a manner which gives notice of its proprietary nature. 9.4 Proprietary Information shall not be copied, in whole or in part, except when essential for correcting, generating or modifying Proprietary Information for either party’s authorized use. Each such copy, including its storage media, will be marked with all notices, which appear on the original. 9.5 Each party shall ensure that its employees comply with its obligations in terms of this agreement. 9.6 This clause shall survive termination or cancellation of this Agreement. 9.7 This Agreement does not transfer to either party title to any intellectual property contained in any Proprietary Information of the other party 10. Cession The Customer shall not be entitled to cede or assign any rights and/or obligations which it may have in terms of this Agreement to any third party unless prior written consent has been obtained from NET4. 11. Lien The parties agree that in the event of a breach of this Agreement by the Customer which causes NET4 to suffer damages of any nature whatsoever, NET4 shall not be required to attach any of the Customer’s hardware in execution, however is entitled to retain a lien over such hardware in reduction of any debt due by Customer to NET4. 12. Force Majeure NET4 shall not be liable for non-performance under this Agreement to the extent to which the non-performance is caused by events or conditions beyond the control of NET4, provided that NET4 makes all reasonable efforts to perform. 13. Governing Law And Jurisdiction This Agreement will be governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. 14. Domicilium Citandi Et Executandi 14.1 The Customer chooses as his/its domicilium citandi et executandi (“domicilium”) the physical address appearing on the application form to which these Standard Terms and Conditions are attached. 14.2 NET4 chooses its domicilium citandi et executandi (“domicilium”) at . 14.3 Either party shall be entitled to vary its domicilium with 10 (TEN) days prior notice to the other party by prepaid registered post or hand delivered to the other party’s domicilium and shall be presumed, unless the contrary is proved to have been received by that party on the fifth (5th) day after the date of posting or on the day of delivery as the case may be. 15. General 15.1 No variation, amendment or consensual cancellation of this Agreement or any provision or term hereof shall be binding unless recorded in a written document signed by a duly authorized representative from both NET4 and the Customer. 15.2 The parties acknowledge having read and understood this Agreement and are not entering into this Agreement on the basis of any representations not expressly set forth in it. 15.3 Neither party shall be bound by any express or implied term, representation, warranty, promise or the like not recorded herein, whether it induced the Agreement between Customer and NET4 or not. 15.4 No extension of time or waiver or relaxation of any of the provisions or terms of this Agreement shall operate as an estoppel against either party hereto, nor shall it operate so as to preclude either of the parties thereafter from exercising its rights strictly in accordance with this Agreement. 15.5 Should any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement be held to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, such terms and conditions will be severable from the remaining terms and conditions which will continue to be valid and enforceable. 15.6 In the event of any expiration, termination or cancellation of this Agreement, the provisions hereof which are intended to continue and survive, shall so continue and survive. 15.7 All the terms and conditions contained in the Schedule(s) hereto, are hereby incorporated into this Agreement. 15.8 In the event of any conflict between the Standard Terms and Conditions of this Agreement and the terms and conditions in any Schedule/s hereto, these Standard Terms and Conditions shall prevail. 15.9 Should any conflict exist in respect of pricing contained in the Agreement or the Schedules hereto, the costs set out in the Service Schedule shall prevail. 15.10 It is specially recorded that the Customer by signing up agree to the NET4 User Policy as published on the official website http://www.net4.co.za. 15.11 These terms and conditions, together with the Schedule(s), Annexures and attachments hereto, constitute the whole of the agreement between NET4 and the Customer Declaration of Acceptance I/We the undersigned herewith declare that I/We have read the Terms and Conditions herein contained, are fully acquainted with the content thereof and declare my/our acceptance thereof. Surety I the undersigned herewith confirm my authority to sign this agreement, and bind myself as surety and co-principal debtor for the due performance by the Customer under this agreement. *