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Home Legal Terms of Service

Terms of Service

The Terms of Service outlines the terms and conditions for using Hostking's services. Please read these carefully before using our services.

Last updated: October 2026

Welcome to Hostking (Pty) Ltd ("Hostking", "we", "us", "our"). By accessing or using our services, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Agreement"), our Privacy Policy, and our Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP").

Hostking (Pty) Ltd is registered in South Africa (2013/095847/07). These Terms apply to every service supplied by Hostking (Pty) Ltd, whichever Hostking website you order through, including orders placed in our Client Area at my.hostking.host. Each Hostking website publishes a version of these Terms for its country. The versions are the same apart from the currency, contact details and the sections on the laws of that country. If you live in a country that has its own Hostking website, the version on that website applies to you; otherwise the version on hostking.host applies. This page is the version for customers in South Africa, with prices in South African rand (ZAR).

Important — provisions that limit our liability and place risk on you

Your attention is specifically drawn to the following provisions. They limit Hostking's liability to you, place responsibility for certain risks on you, or require you to indemnify Hostking. Please read them before placing an order:

None of these provisions excludes or limits any liability or right that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. If you do not understand any of them, please contact us at support@hostking.host before placing an order.

1. Definitions

The following terms have the meanings set out below throughout this Agreement:

  • "Agreement" means these Terms of Service, together with our Privacy Policy, Acceptable Use Policy, and any other policies or schedules incorporated by reference.
  • "Customer" or "you" means the individual or entity that has registered an account with Hostking and is the account holder of record.
  • "End User" means any person authorised by a Customer (including reseller clients) to access or use the services.

"Services" means all products and services provided by Hostking, including but not limited to shared hosting, VPS servers, dedicated servers, domain registration, email hosting, and website design.

"Client Area" means the online account management portal available at my.hostking.host.

"Business Day" means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or South African public holiday.

"Malicious Code" means any software routine or code intended to allow unauthorised access to, or disable, damage, or disrupt, a computer system, including viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, and backdoors.

"Professional Services" means any work performed by Hostking that falls outside the scope of standard hosting support, including but not limited to website fixes, third-party software troubleshooting, custom development, and migration assistance beyond basic account transfers.

"POPIA" means the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.

"CPA" means the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008.

2. Acceptance of Terms

By using our services, you agree to comply with this Agreement and all applicable laws. If you do not agree to these terms, you may not use Hostking's services.

Hostking may amend this Agreement from time to time. Where an amendment materially affects your rights or obligations, Hostking will give at least 14 days' notice by email or via the Client Area before it takes effect, and you may cancel the affected service without penalty at any time before the effective date. Your continued use of the services after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the amended Agreement. This clause governs amendments to this Agreement only; variations to the commercial terms of an individual order require written agreement between the parties as set out in Section 32.

3. Services

Hostking provides shared hosting, VPS servers, dedicated servers, domain registration, email hosting, website design, and related services.

Hostking may modify service specifications, pricing, and features. Where a material change is made, Hostking will give at least 14 days' written notice via email or the Client Area. Where a material change increases the price of a service or materially reduces its specification, the customer may cancel the affected service without penalty by giving written notice before the change takes effect, and Hostking will refund any amount paid in advance in respect of the period after cancellation.

Hostking may also discontinue any hosting package type. In such cases the service will either be provided for the remainder of the paid period, a pro-rata refund issued, or the nearest equivalent package offered — at Hostking's discretion.

4. Accounts & Security

You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account, whether carried out by you or any third party with or without your knowledge. We strongly recommend enabling Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) to protect your account.

You must ensure that all contact information on your account is accurate and kept up to date at all times. Hostking may reset account credentials at its discretion if it becomes aware that your account has been accessed or compromised by an unauthorised third party.

Hostking may suspend or terminate services immediately where required to protect the security of our infrastructure or other customers.

5. Billing & Payments

Services are billed in advance on monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, annual, biennial, or triennial cycles depending on the plan selected. Prices displayed on Hostking's websites and in the Client Area are inclusive of VAT at the applicable rate where VAT is chargeable, unless a price is expressly and clearly stated to be exclusive of VAT. All transactions are processed in South African Rands (ZAR) unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Fixed-term billing cycles. Where section 14 of the CPA applies to a customer, a fixed-term agreement will not exceed 24 months unless the customer expressly agrees to a longer term and Hostking is able to demonstrate a financial benefit to the customer in doing so. Triennial (36-month) cycles are offered on that basis and are otherwise available to juristic persons. See Section 8A for cancellation and expiry, and Section 22 for the application of the CPA.

Important: Unpaid invoices may result in service suspension after 3 days. After 30 days of non-payment, services may be terminated and all associated data permanently deleted. Reinstatement of a suspended service is not guaranteed and may be subject to a reconnection fee. This does not limit Hostking's right to immediately suspend services for security, abuse, legal, or policy violations.

Where a service is suspended for non-payment and subsequently reinstated at the customer's request, no refund or credit will be provided for the period during which the service was suspended.

6. Chargebacks & Payment Disputes

Where a chargeback or payment dispute is initiated, Hostking may suspend the services associated with the disputed transaction where reasonably necessary to protect Hostking against fraud, non-payment, or financial loss. Suspended services will be reinstated following resolution and settlement of the dispute.

Customers who believe there has been a billing error are encouraged to contact our billing team at billing@hostking.co.za before initiating any dispute with their bank or payment provider.

7. Terms and Conditions for Automated Recurring Payments (Stripe)

These terms govern automated recurring payment services provided through Stripe, Inc. ("Stripe"). By using recurring billing, you agree to these terms in addition to this Agreement.

  • Definitions
  • Company: Hostking (Pty) Ltd
  • Customer: Individual or entity making payment
  • Stripe: Stripe, Inc.
  • Service: Automated recurring payment service

Recurring Payments

By enabling recurring billing, you authorise Hostking to automatically charge your nominated payment method on each renewal date. Cancellation requests must be submitted at least 14 days before the next due date. See Section 8A for full cancellation procedures.

Payment Processing

Payments are processed through Stripe. Hostking is not responsible for security incidents on the Stripe platform.

Fees & Charges

The customer is responsible for any bank fees or charges applied by Stripe in relation to their payment method.

Privacy & Data

Hostking complies with applicable data protection legislation. Stripe handles payment data under its own privacy policies and security standards.

Termination

Either party may terminate a recurring payment arrangement subject to the applicable service cancellation notice periods set out in Section 8A.

8. Refund Policy

New customers are eligible for a 30-day money-back guarantee on their first shared hosting order only. This guarantee is subject to the eligibility requirements of this section and does not create any additional liability beyond the refund itself.

Refunds are not available on the following:

  • Domain registrations, renewals, and transfers
  • SSL certificates
  • Software licences
  • VPS and dedicated servers
  • Setup fees
  • Promotional or discounted orders
  • Services where the hosting has been used to promote a business, run email campaigns, or otherwise commercially utilised
  • Services renewed due to late cancellation (see Section 8A)

Hostking may decline a refund request where the service has been used in a manner falling within the exclusions listed above, or where the account has been suspended or terminated for breach of this Agreement or the Acceptable Use Policy. Ordinary use of the hosting service by the customer for the purpose of evaluating it does not by itself disqualify a refund request.

This section does not limit any statutory right to a refund that may apply.

8A. Cancellation of Services

To cancel any Hostking subscription service, a cancellation request must be submitted in writing or another recorded form — by email to billing@hostking.co.za, or by support ticket through the Client Area. Verbal requests cannot be accepted, as a recorded record of the request is required.

Hosting Services

Cancellation requests for hosting services must be received at least 14 (fourteen) calendar days before the next billing or renewal date.

Domain Names

Cancellation requests for domain names must be received at least 21 (twenty-one) calendar days before the domain renewal date. In addition, customers must disable the Auto Renew option for any domain they do not wish to renew from the Client Area under the Domains section. Submitting a cancellation request alone is not sufficient — Auto Renew must also be disabled.

Late Cancellation Requests

If a cancellation request is received less than the applicable notice period before the renewal date, the service may renew for a further cycle and no refund, credit, or partial refund will be issued for a renewal processed before the request was received.

Customers are responsible for ensuring cancellation requests are submitted within the applicable notice period and that domain auto-renewal settings are disabled where applicable.

Statutory cancellation rights

The notice periods in this section are operational requirements and do not limit any statutory right of cancellation. Where section 14 of the CPA applies, the customer may cancel a fixed-term agreement at any time on 20 business days' notice in writing or another recorded form, subject to Hostking's right to recover amounts due up to the cancellation date and to impose a reasonable cancellation penalty as permitted by section 14(3) of the CPA.

Expiry of fixed-term agreements

Where section 14 of the CPA applies to a fixed-term agreement, Hostking will notify the customer of the pending expiry of the fixed term not more than 80 and not less than 40 business days before the expiry date, setting out any material changes that would apply on renewal and the options available to the customer. If the customer does not respond, the agreement will continue on a month-to-month basis on the same terms, subject to any material changes notified, unless the customer directs Hostking to terminate it on expiry or agrees to a further fixed term.

9. Affiliate Commissions

Affiliate commissions are subject to the following minimum payout thresholds:

  • Wise / bank transfer: Minimum payout of $200 USD

Affiliate commission is 20% of what a referred customer actually pays for web hosting and reseller hosting (after any discount), for the first 24 months from the date that customer signs up, plus a once-off sign-up bonus when a new customer's first hosting invoice is paid. Domain registrations, domain renewals, other products and accounts for yourself, your own business or an existing customer do not earn commission or a bonus. Customers referred before 11 November 2026 continue to earn commission on the previous terms, for as long as their account stays active. Hostking reserves the right to withhold or reverse affiliate commissions in cases of fraud, abuse, or chargebacks. Payout account changes must be submitted by email to billing@hostking.co.za.

9A. Hostking Rewards Programme

Hostking Rewards is an optional programme through which customers may earn account credit, and in some cases cash payments, for qualifying activity and for publicly sharing content about Hostking. Participation is voluntary and is not required to use any Hostking service.

The programme is governed by the Hostking Rewards Programme Terms, which are incorporated into this Agreement by reference. Those terms set out who may take part, how rewards are earned, claimed and paid, and the circumstances in which a reward may be withheld or reversed. Reward credit has no cash value and is applied against Hostking invoices only. The programme is a trial and may be changed or ended at any time as set out in those terms.

10. SMS Notifications

Operational SMS may be sent for important account events including invoice reminders, domain expiry notices, and service suspension alerts. You may opt out of non-essential SMS notifications at any time by contacting our support team or updating your notification preferences in the Client Area.

11. Intellectual Property

Nothing in this Agreement grants either party a licence to use the other party's intellectual property, nor shall anything be construed as an assignment of intellectual property rights, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Where Hostking provides software as part of a service, it grants the customer a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use that software solely for the purpose of using the services and for the duration of this Agreement. The customer is prohibited from reverse engineering, disassembling, decompiling, or otherwise attempting to discover the source code of any software provided under this Agreement.

The customer warrants that it either owns the intellectual property rights to all material transmitted, stored, displayed, or reproduced using Hostking's systems, or that it has the permission of the rights holder to use that material in that way.

Internet Protocol (IP) addresses assigned to a customer by Hostking remain the property of Hostking and cannot be owned by the customer. On termination of a service, all assigned IP addresses may be reclaimed by Hostking and the customer shall have no recourse as a result.

12. Backups & Data Responsibility

Hostking provides automated backups as a standard feature of its shared and reseller hosting services. These backups are a recovery aid, and are subject to the backup frequency, retention period, and account size limits applicable to the service, as published on the relevant product page. Hostking does not warrant that any particular file, database, mailbox, or website will be available for restoration, or that a restoration will be complete, current, or error-free. Backup availability may be affected by technical failure, corruption, malware, deletion, account suspension or termination, maintenance, or retention limits.

Important: Customers remain solely responsible for maintaining their own independent backups of all data, stored outside the Hostking hosting environment. Customers should not rely on Hostking's backups as their only copy of any data.

Hostking shall not be liable for loss of data arising from hardware failure, software error, security incidents, human error, or the customer's failure to maintain an adequate independent backup, save to the extent that such liability cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

13. Acceptable Use & Fair Usage

The following activities are strictly prohibited on all Hostking services:

  • Any illegal activity or content
  • Distribution of malware, viruses, or phishing material
  • Sending unsolicited bulk email (spam)
  • Hosting gambling, adult, cryptocurrency, or investment and trading websites
  • Abusive or excessive resource usage that impacts other customers

Violations may result in immediate service suspension or termination without refund. Full details are available in our Acceptable Use Policy.

13A. Resource Usage (Shared Hosting)

Shared hosting accounts are subject to per-account resource limits enforced by the hosting platform. Those limits are published on the relevant product page and applied automatically; they are not conditions of use in themselves.

Indicative thresholds. Sustained use of 25% or more of server CPU for longer than 90 seconds, or database queries running longer than 15 seconds, are indicative thresholds used by Hostking to identify accounts that may be affecting the shared environment. Exceeding an indicative threshold is not by itself a breach of this Agreement. Where resource usage materially affects other customers or the stability of the shared environment, Hostking may investigate, throttle, restrict, or suspend the affected service, and will contact the customer where it is reasonable to do so.

The following are not permitted on shared hosting:

  • Run standalone or unattended server-side processes or daemons (including IRCD)
  • Run web spiders, crawlers, or indexers
  • Run software that interfaces with IRC networks
  • Run BitTorrent applications or clients
  • Participate in peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing
  • Run game servers
  • Create cron jobs that run more frequently than every 15 minutes

Best Practices:

  • All MySQL tables must be properly indexed
  • Use local file includes instead of URL-based includes
  • Do not configure HTML files to process server-side code unnecessarily
  • HTTPS should be used where appropriate to protect sensitive information

13B. Excessive Usage & Permitted Website Types

Excessive usage includes:

  • Databases exceeding 8GB (hard limit: 10GB)
  • Inode counts above 2,000,000
  • Excessive CPU, RAM, disk I/O, bandwidth, or email usage
  • Using hosting as a storage or backup repository
  • Traffic exceeding 300GB/month where it adversely affects other customers

Hostking reserves the right to throttle disk I/O on virtual hosting accounts where a customer's usage is negatively affecting the shared environment. Bandwidth monitoring tools provided in the control panel may reflect usage data that is up to 48 hours out of date; Hostking makes no warranty as to their real-time accuracy, and customers are responsible for monitoring their own usage.

Not permitted on shared hosting:

  • Gambling or lottery websites
  • Pornographic or adult content
  • Cryptocurrency websites of any kind, including exchanges, trading platforms, wallets, mining and token sales
  • Investment, forex or trading websites
  • Music or movie streaming platforms
  • High-traffic SaaS platforms

13C. Support Scope & Professional Services

Hostking's standard hosting support covers issues relating to Hostking's own infrastructure, platform, and services. The following are not included in standard support and will not be provided as part of any hosting plan:

  • Fixing or debugging customer websites or web applications
  • Resolving errors in third-party software, plugins, themes, or scripts
  • Providing support directly to end-users of reseller accounts
  • Backing up customer email data during migrations or package changes
  • Updating DNS records on customer domain names
  • Development of any custom code, scripts, or database structures

Hostking may, at its discretion, offer to perform any of the above as Professional Services at an additional fee quoted at the time of request. Acceptance of a Professional Services quote constitutes a separate agreement for that specific task.

13D. Package Migrations & Upgrades

Where a customer migrates between hosting packages or upgrades their plan, Hostking will transfer account data on a best-effort basis. The following are explicitly excluded from any migration or package change:

  • Fixing websites or applications that were non-functional prior to migration
  • Resolving third-party software compatibility issues arising from the migration
  • Backing up or migrating email data unless specifically agreed in writing
  • Updating DNS records or nameservers on domain names

Customers are solely responsible for testing their website and applications following any migration or package change and for ensuring DNS records are updated where required.

13E. Compromised & Malware-Infected Accounts

Hostking reserves the right to immediately suspend, isolate, or take down any website or hosting account found to contain malware, phishing content, spam scripts, backdoors, web shells, or any other security threat — without prior notice to the customer. This action may be taken at Hostking's sole discretion where the account poses a risk to the security, reputation, or performance of shared infrastructure or other customers.

Customers are solely responsible for keeping their websites, applications, plugins, themes, and scripts up to date and secure. Hostking will not be liable for any loss of business, data, or revenue arising from the suspension of a compromised account. Reactivation of a suspended account following a malware or security incident is subject to the customer providing satisfactory evidence that the issue has been fully resolved.

Where Hostking incurs costs in investigating, containing, or remediating a security incident caused by a customer's negligence — including but not limited to malware cleanup, blacklist removal, IP delisting, and emergency response actions — Hostking reserves the right to recover those reasonable costs from the customer.

For Windows and unmanaged VPS servers, see also Section 17A.

14. Email & Spam Policy

Sending unsolicited bulk email (spam) from any Hostking service is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate termination of the offending account without refund.

Hostking reserves the right to limit, suspend, or terminate email services on any account that generates excessive spam complaints, causes Hostking's IP addresses or domains to be listed on email blacklists, exceeds outbound mail volume thresholds, or otherwise negatively impacts the email reputation of shared infrastructure. Where Hostking incurs costs in delisting IP addresses or domains from email blacklists as a result of a customer's outbound mail activity, those costs may be recovered from the customer's account.

Hostking filters incoming email on its servers to protect customers from spam and phishing, including with filtering rules that apply across all Hostking mail servers. These rules raise a message's spam score so that it is placed in the spam folder according to your mailbox's spam settings; they do not delete email. If legitimate email is being filtered, contact support and we will review the rule and can exempt the sender. How the filtering uses personal information, including the use of an AI service to assess suspected campaigns, is described in our Privacy Policy.

15. Abuse & Takedown

Content found to be in violation of our Acceptable Use Policy or applicable law may be removed without prior notice upon receipt of a valid abuse complaint. Takedown requests should be submitted through the ISPA Takedown process.

16. Domains

  • Domain registrations, renewals, and transfers are non-refundable
  • WHOIS registration details must be accurate and kept up to date at all times
  • Domains may automatically renew where Auto Renew is enabled and a valid payment method or sufficient account credit is available
  • Renewal instructions are submitted to registries in advance of the expiry date and may not be reversible once processed
  • Expired domains may enter a redemption period and incur additional fees to recover
  • Hostking is not liable for failures in domain registration, renewal, or transfer processing to the extent that those failures are caused by the relevant registry, registrar, or other third-party provider, or by circumstances outside Hostking's reasonable control
  • Free domains are applicable only to selected annual hosting packages. If a customer cancels hosting or transfers a free .co.za or .com domain away within 3 months of the domain being registered, Hostking reserves the right to recover the standard registration fee for that domain
  • Support is not provided directly to end-users of reseller accounts
  • If a customer misspells a domain name and it is registered in error, the customer remains liable for payment of that domain. No refund will be issued and the customer will need to register the correctly spelled domain at their own cost
  • Where a renewal payment is submitted with an incorrect payment reference that cannot be matched to the customer's account or domain, Hostking will not be responsible for the domain lapsing into redemption or for any additional redemption fees incurred as a result
  • Premium domains may be priced higher than standard domains as determined by the relevant registry. Where a premium domain is ordered at the standard price, Hostking will notify the customer of the correct price before proceeding. If the customer does not wish to proceed, a full refund of the amount paid will be issued

Domain renewal reminder emails are sent to direct customers at approximately 90, 60, 30, 14, 7, and 1 day(s) before expiry. Reseller clients receive reminders at approximately 60, 30, 14, and 7 days before expiry. These reminders are provided as a courtesy and Hostking does not guarantee delivery of any specific reminder email. The customer remains solely responsible for renewing domains in good time regardless of whether a reminder is received.

Domain name intellectual property warranty: The customer warrants that in registering or using any domain name, they are not infringing the intellectual property rights of any third party. If a domain name dispute is brought against a domain registered by or on behalf of the customer, Hostking may provide the customer's details to the relevant third party and refer all correspondence to the customer. The customer indemnifies Hostking for all costs incurred by Hostking in connection with any such dispute, including adjudicator fees and attorney fees on the scale as between attorney and own client.

For domain cancellation procedures, please refer to Section 8A.

17. VPS & Dedicated Servers

  • Unmanaged VPS servers do not include backups. Customers on unmanaged VPS services are responsible for implementing and maintaining their own backup solution
  • Managed VPS servers may include weekly backups as a convenience service; such backups are not guaranteed and customers remain solely responsible for maintaining independent off-server backups
  • Dedicated server data is permanently deleted 30 days after cancellation

Backup Responsibility (Managed cPanel VPS)

While Hostking may provide local backup solutions on your VPS, these are provided as a convenience only and are not guaranteed. All managed cPanel VPS customers are solely responsible for maintaining their own independent, off-server backups of all data, accounts, and configurations.

You are required to:

  • Maintain regular backups stored outside of your VPS environment (e.g. remote storage, third-party backup services, or local copies)
  • Ensure backups are functional, accessible, and restorable

Hostking does not accept responsibility for:

  • Data loss due to hardware failure, corruption, security breaches, or user error
  • Failure, inaccessibility, or corruption of any on-server backup system

Nothing in this section excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

17A. Windows & Unmanaged VPS Servers

All Windows VPS servers and all unmanaged VPS servers are self-managed by the customer.

Hostking is responsible for:

  • The physical hardware, the virtualisation platform (hypervisor) and Hostking's network
  • Supplying the operating system and any software licences ordered with the service, such as Windows or Plesk

The customer is responsible for everything inside the server, including:

  • Installing Windows, Plesk, control panel and application updates and security patches
  • Administrator and user passwords, and deciding who has access to the server
  • Remote access (including Remote Desktop/RDP and SSH) and firewall rules
  • Antivirus and malware protection
  • Independent backups stored outside the server, as set out in Section 17

On handover the customer receives the Administrator password, and Hostking does not keep a copy. Hostking does not log in to these servers to install updates or carry out maintenance. Any automatic update settings in place at handover are the customer's to keep or change.

Help when something goes wrong. If the server is hacked, infected with malware or ransomware, or stops working, Hostking will try to assist if the customer asks, as best it reasonably can — for example by giving console access, helping to isolate the server, or reinstalling the operating system. This help is given on a best-effort basis only. Hostking does not guarantee a result, and giving help does not make Hostking responsible for the server, the incident or any loss. Work beyond basic assistance may be quoted as a Professional Service under Section 13C.

Compromised servers. Hostking may immediately shut down, isolate or disconnect a server that is compromised or infected with Malicious Code, to protect Hostking's network and other customers, and may keep it isolated until the customer has resolved the issue.

Liability. Hostking is not responsible for loss or damage caused by Malicious Code (including ransomware), unauthorised access, or the customer's failure to update or secure the server, including loss of data, downtime, recovery costs or any ransom demanded. This does not apply where the loss results from a failure of Hostking's own hardware, virtualisation platform or network, or from Hostking's gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

Software licences only. Where Hostking supplies only a software licence (such as a Plesk licence) for a server that Hostking does not host, Hostking's responsibility is limited to providing a valid, working licence. The customer is responsible for the server and everything on it.

Nothing in this section excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

18. Free Website Design

Where a free website design is provided as part of a hosting package, the website must remain hosted with Hostking for a minimum period of 12 months from the date of delivery. Early cancellation may result in the recovery of the cost of the design service.

Design examples. We may show designs we make under this offer as examples on our websites, with the customer’s phone number, email address, WhatsApp number and street address hidden. Customers can opt out on the request form, on the design brief, or by emailing webdesign@hostking.host, and we will remove the example.

19. Resellers

Reseller account holders are fully responsible for the actions and conduct of their end-users. Resellers must ensure that their customers comply with this Agreement and our Acceptable Use Policy at all times. Hostking does not provide direct support to reseller end-users.

Resellers must have their own written agreement in place with each of their end-clients. That agreement must bind the end-client to terms no less restrictive than this Agreement and our Acceptable Use Policy with respect to the use of hosting services.

Unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing, end-clients of resellers do not have a direct contractual relationship with Hostking in respect of the reseller's services. Hostking's contractual obligations in respect of a reseller account are owed to the reseller as its customer, and the reseller is responsible to its own end-clients under its own agreement with them. Nothing in this section limits any right or remedy that may arise under applicable law.

Domain registrant details must reflect the domain owner's information and not the reseller's details. Domains may not be withheld by the reseller in lieu of any monies owed by an end-client.

Reseller end-clients may not in turn resell any Hostking service to third parties without the prior written consent of Hostking. Resellers may not assign or transfer their reseller account or any associated services to a third party without the prior written consent of Hostking.

20. Uptime Guarantee & SLA

Hostking aims to provide 99.9% network uptime for all hosting services, excluding scheduled maintenance windows.

SLA Credit Claims

In the event of service unavailability below the 99.9% threshold, the customer may submit an SLA credit claim. To qualify, the customer must submit a support ticket at my.hostking.host within 7 days of the outage, including the service type, affected domain or IP address, and a full description of the interruption. Subject to applicable law, SLA credits are Hostking's sole and exclusive contractual remedy for qualifying service unavailability, and no cash refund or damages may be claimed in lieu of a credit. Credits will not exceed one month's billing for the affected service and will be applied to future invoices only.

SLA Exclusions — the following do not qualify for SLA credits:

  • Customers with outstanding unpaid invoices at the time of the outage
  • Customers who have been in payment arrears 3 or more times in the previous 12 months
  • Scheduled maintenance and infrastructure upgrades
  • Downtime caused by the customer's own actions, misconfigurations, or abuse
  • Downtime caused by upstream network providers or infrastructure outside Hostking's control
  • Downtime caused by DDoS attacks or other malicious activity directed at the customer's services
  • Force majeure events

21. Statutory Compliance

Hostking is obliged to comply with certain South African statutory provisions, including but not limited to:

  • The Films and Publications Act 65 of 1996
  • The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002
  • The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act 70 of 2002 (RICA)
  • The Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005
  • The Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA)
  • The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA)

Hostking's compliance with these provisions may require measures that affect the customer's account or data. Hostking will not be liable to the extent that any loss results directly from action that Hostking is required or authorised by law to take in order to comply with these statutory obligations.

22. Consumer Protection Act (CPA)

The CPA applies to this Agreement where the customer is a natural person. Where the customer is a juristic person, the CPA applies only if both the customer's asset value and annual turnover are below R2,000,000 (two million Rand) on the date services are ordered. That figure is the threshold determined by the Minister under section 6 of the CPA; if the determined threshold changes, the amount then in force will apply.

Certain provisions of the CPA have their own application rules. In particular, section 14 (fixed-term agreements) does not apply to transactions between juristic persons, regardless of asset value or annual turnover.

Nothing in this Agreement is intended to exclude, restrict, or waive any right or protection that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted, or waived under the CPA. Where a provision of this Agreement conflicts with a mandatory provision of the CPA, the CPA prevails to the extent of the conflict. If any provision of this Agreement is found by a court or tribunal to be unfair, unreasonable, or unjust under the CPA, that provision alone shall be severed and the remainder of the Agreement shall remain in full force.

23. Suspension and Breach

Hostking is entitled to suspend provision of services in any of the following circumstances:

  • The customer is in breach of the Acceptable Use Policy
  • Payment of amounts due is overdue
  • Suspension is necessary to maintain the security of Hostking's infrastructure
  • Emergency maintenance is required
  • Hostking is ordered to do so by a court of competent jurisdiction

Where suspension is due to non-payment or an AUP breach (other than in an emergency), Hostking will endeavour to provide at least 24 hours' notice before suspending the service, unless immediate suspension is necessary to prevent loss or harm. If the customer fails to remedy a breach within 5 (five) Business Days of receiving written notice, Hostking may terminate the affected service and permanently delete all associated data. Termination for breach does not entitle the customer to any refund.

24. Assignment

The customer may not cede, assign, or otherwise transfer their rights or obligations under this Agreement to a third party without the prior written consent of Hostking. Hostking may subcontract its obligations to third parties provided that Hostking remains the sole point of contact for the customer and retains responsibility for service delivery.

25. Dispute Resolution

In the event of a dispute, the customer is encouraged to first contact Hostking's support team at support@hostking.host or billing team at billing@hostking.co.za to attempt resolution in good faith within 30 (thirty) days. If the dispute cannot be resolved within that period, either party may refer the matter to arbitration in terms of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA) rules, conducted in English by a single arbitrator. Either party may seek urgent or interim relief from a court of competent jurisdiction without this being a waiver of the right to arbitration.

Either party may instead refer a dispute involving an amount within the jurisdiction of the Magistrates' Courts to a court of competent jurisdiction rather than to arbitration. Nothing in this clause limits a customer's right to approach the National Consumer Commission, the National Consumer Tribunal, an accredited consumer ombud, or any other forum available under the CPA where it applies.

26. Marketing & Data Protection

Hostking complies with applicable data protection and privacy legislation, including POPIA. Personal information about you as our customer (your account, billing and support details) is collected, stored, and processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Personal information contained in the content you host with us is dealt with in Section 26A. By using our services, you consent to receiving operational communications from Hostking including invoices, service notices, and account alerts. You may unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time.

26A. Data Processing (POPIA Operator Terms)

This section applies to personal information contained in the content you store or process using our services, including website files, databases, mailboxes, email and any other data in your account ("Customer Data"). For Customer Data, you are the responsible party and Hostking is your operator, as those terms are used in POPIA. This section is the written contract between you and Hostking required by section 21 of POPIA.

  1. Processing on your instructions. Hostking processes Customer Data only to provide, maintain, secure and support the services you have ordered, on your instructions (including instructions you give by using the services, the control panel or the Client Area), or where the law requires it. Hostking does not use Customer Data for its own purposes and does not sell it.
  2. Confidentiality. Hostking treats Customer Data as confidential. Only Hostking staff and contractors who need access for support, maintenance, security or legal reasons may access it, and they are bound by confidentiality obligations. Hostking will not disclose Customer Data unless the law requires it or you instruct us to.
  3. Security measures. Hostking maintains reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect Customer Data, as required by section 19 of POPIA. On shared hosting these include malware scanning and firewall protection on our servers, isolation between hosting accounts, administrative access restricted to Hostking system administrators, encrypted connections for accessing your services, and backups as described in Section 12. Shared hosting storage is not encrypted at rest. You are responsible for the security of your own websites, applications, passwords and devices (see Section 4 and Section 13E), and for deciding whether a service is suitable for the personal information you choose to store on it.
  4. Sub-operators. You authorise Hostking to use third parties to provide the services, including our data centre provider (currently Hetzner Online GmbH in Germany). Hostking only uses providers that are bound by data protection obligations that protect Customer Data at least as well as this section, and Hostking remains responsible to you for their processing. Our current providers are listed in our Privacy Policy.
  5. Location and cross-border transfers. Customer Data on our shared hosting servers, and the backups of it, are stored in data centres in Germany or, for some older servers, South Africa; in Germany the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies. Hostking staff may access Customer Data remotely from South Africa and from the United Arab Emirates for administration and support. Hostking only transfers Customer Data outside South Africa where the recipient is subject to a law or binding agreement that provides an adequate level of protection, as required by section 72 of POPIA. Limited details about suspected spam reaching your mailboxes (sender details, spam filter results and subject lines with email addresses and long numbers removed) may be sent to our AI service provider in the United States to assess suspected spam and phishing, as described in our Privacy Policy.
  6. Security compromises. If Hostking has reasonable grounds to believe that Customer Data has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, Hostking will notify you immediately, as required by section 21(2) of POPIA, and give you the information reasonably available to us about what happened. As the responsible party, you are responsible for notifying the Information Regulator and the affected data subjects where section 22 of POPIA requires it, and Hostking will give you reasonable assistance to do so.
  7. Assistance. Hostking will give you reasonable assistance with requests from data subjects (for example to access, correct or delete their information) and with enquiries from the Information Regulator that relate to Customer Data. Where a request needs significant work, Hostking may charge for it as a Professional Service (see Section 13C).
  8. Deletion. When a service ends, Customer Data is deleted from our hosting servers within 30 days of termination, and backup copies are deleted automatically within 180 days of termination. On your written request, Hostking will delete Customer Data earlier where this is technically possible. You must export any data you want to keep before the service ends.
  9. Your responsibilities. You confirm that you have a lawful basis under POPIA (and any other law that applies to you) for the Customer Data you store and process using our services. If you are a reseller, or you host data for your own clients, you must make sure your clients are bound by terms that are consistent with this section.
  10. Precedence. If this section conflicts with another part of this Agreement about the processing of Customer Data, this section applies. The limitations in Section 28 continue to apply to the extent permitted by law.

27. Disclaimer of Warranties

All Hostking services are provided on an "as-is" and "as-available" basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Hostking does not warrant that services will be uninterrupted, error-free, or completely secure. Equipment and third-party software are provided subject to the manufacturer's or licensor's warranties only; all other warranties are excluded to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Nothing in this section excludes or limits any warranty or right that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including the right to services performed in a manner and of a quality that consumers are generally entitled to expect under section 54 of the CPA where it applies.

28. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Hostking shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, loss of data, business interruption, or other commercial damages arising out of or related to your use of, or inability to use, the services.

Hostking's total cumulative liability for any claim arising under this Agreement shall not exceed the total amount paid by you to Hostking for the affected service during the 12 (twelve) month period immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

In particular, Hostking will not be liable for loss arising from: the customer's failure to maintain adequate security; any act or omission relating to the transmission, storage, or publication of data; spam filtering false positives; any action taken under the Suspension and Breach clause; compliance with any applicable statute; or loss of data including backup or disaster recovery failures.

Nothing in this section excludes or limits Hostking's liability for gross negligence or wilful misconduct, or any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including under section 51 of the CPA where it applies.

29. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Hostking, its directors, officers, employees, agents, and affiliates from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from:

  1. Your use of the services
  2. Your violation of this Agreement
  3. Any content hosted, transmitted, or distributed through your account
  4. Your violation of any law or third-party rights
  5. Any breach of privacy rights or infringement of data protection law
  6. Any domain name dispute arising from a domain registered by or on behalf of you

This indemnity does not apply to the extent that a claim arises from Hostking's own gross negligence or wilful misconduct, or to the extent that it may not lawfully be imposed under the CPA where it applies.

30. Force Majeure

Hostking shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance resulting from circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, war, terrorism, labour disputes, power failures, network outages, natural disasters, government actions, sanctions, or failures of third-party providers. If such circumstances persist for longer than 3 (three) months, either party may terminate the affected service by written notice.

31. Severability

If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

32. Entire Agreement

This Agreement, together with our Privacy Policy and Acceptable Use Policy, constitutes the entire agreement between you and Hostking with respect to the use of our services and supersedes all prior agreements, representations, or understandings. Save for amendments to this Agreement made in accordance with Section 2, only a written variation agreed to by both parties shall have effect.

33. Governing Law

This Agreement applies to services supplied by Hostking (Pty) Ltd in South Africa. It shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and any disputes arising from it shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the South African courts, provided that the dispute resolution process in Section 25 is followed first.

Each Hostking website publishes a version of this Agreement for its country, as explained at the top of this page.

34. Owner Information & Required Disclosures under Section 43 of the ECT Act

In compliance with Section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, the following information is made available:

  • Website owner: Hostking (Pty) Ltd
  • Registered Number: 2013/095847/07
  • VAT Number: 4440271502
  • Phone: +27 87 802 0155
  • Email: info@hostking.host
  • Website: www.hostking.co.za
  • Registered Address: 105 Wellington Street, Vasco Estate, 7460, South Africa

This information is published for legal and regulatory purposes. For support, billing, or sales queries, please use live chat or our support ticket system as described in Section 35 below.

35. Contact Information

For any questions regarding these Terms of Service, please contact us: