Terms of Use

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your use (the “User”) of the Website located at the domain name www.botanicalsociety.org.za (“Website”) which is operated by The Botanical Society of South Africa (“The Botanical Society”).

By accessing or using the Website, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not wish to be bound by these Terms, you may not access, display, use, download, or otherwise copy or distribute data, code or content obtained from the Website.

All users of this Website who are minors in the jurisdiction in which they reside (generally under the age of 18) must have the permission of, and be directly supervised by, their parent or legal guardian to use the Website.

Content provided on the Website

The content of the Website, including hyperlinks to third party websites, is provided without warranty or representation of any kind, implied or otherwise. Any use or and/or reliance on such content is done entirely at your own risk and you hereby accept that The Botanical Society will have no liability in this regard for any loss or damage whatsoever.

The Website is to be used as a source of general information and The Botanical Society shall not be liable for any loss or damage including consequential loss, including the poor health or lack of performance of turf or plants of the users of the Website having relied on any of the tips, techniques or information provided via the Website.

Please notify us immediately if you have reason to believe that any of the content on this Website is incorrect or is presumed to be used unlawfully by sending an email to info@botanicalsociety.org.za.

Neither The Botanical Society nor any of its officers, directors and employees, shall not be liable for any resultant loss or damage caused by:

• any interruption, downtime, malfunction or other failure of the Website or related online services, the system, databases or any of its components, for reasons beyond its control;
• any data breach, unlawful access to or theft of data, computer viruses or destructive code on its system or linked third party websites and systems;
• programming defects; or
• any event over which we have no direct control.

Take care when leaving this Website, even if by following a link provided here, as you will then be subject to the terms and conditions of that site.

Using the Website

The Botanical Society encourages positive engagement with others and with nature.

In keeping with this, Users agree not to post comments, statements or other materials on the Website that may be false, unlawful, indecent, obscene, offensive, degrading, harassing, defamatory or that may infringe any intellectual property or privacy rights. Any offensive or unlawful postings may be removed from the Website without notice or warning and The Botanical Society cannot be held liable for any comments, statements of other materials posted on the Website by its Users.

Furthermore, Users are strictly prohibited from using this Website for “scraping”, “spoofing”, “hacking”, “flaming”, “cracking”, “phishing” or “spamming” or any other activity designed or aimed at achieving purposes similar to the aforementioned acts.

By accessing or using the Website, you agree and undertake that:

• Your participation in using the Website is for your own personal use.
• You will keep secure and confidential your account password or any identification provided to you which allows you access to the Website.
• You will only use the Website for lawful purposes and in the manner permitted.
• You will not use the Website to cause nuisance, annoyance or inconvenience.
• You will not use the Website or information obtained from the Website to advertise or offer for sale any goods or services without The Botanical Society’s prior written consent.
• You will not impair the proper operation of the Website.
• You will not restrict, inhibit or prevent others from using the Website by using technical means, hacking or defacing any part of the Website.
• You will not cause or condone any harm to the Website in any way whatsoever.
• You will provide The Botanical Society with whatever proof of identity it may reasonably request.
• You will not reverse engineer, modify or make derivative works using or based on the Website.
• You will not create Internet “links” to the Website or “frame” or “mirror” the Website, or any part of its content, on any other server, wireless, online or connected device.
• You will not access the Website in order to build a competitive product or service, build a product using similar ideas, features, functions, lay-out or graphics of the Website, or copy any ideas, features, functions, lay-out or graphics of the Website.
• You will not interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the Website.

Any non-compliance with these Terms may result in the disclosure of your information to law enforcement authorities and The Botanical Society reserves the right to prevent your further access to the Website.

Any failure by The Botanical Society to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall in no way constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any Term(s) are not fully enforceable or valid for any reason, such Term(s) shall be severable from the remaining Terms which will not be affected by such invalidity or unenforceability and shall remain enforceable.

Intellectual Property

Unless otherwise indicated, the Website is the property of The Botanical Society  and all source code, object code, databases, functionality, software, lay-out and design, audio, video, text, learning materials, photographs, and graphics featured on or relating to the Website (collectively, the “Content”) and the domain names, trademarks and logos featured or used in relation to the Website (the “Marks”) are owned or licensed by The Botanical Society. These elements are protected by intellectual property rights, notably copyright, trademark, unfair competition and privacy laws of South Africa, foreign jurisdictions, and international conventions.

No part of the Website, no Content or Marks may be copied, reproduced, aggregated, adapted or modified, published or republished, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, stored, encoded, translated, transmitted, distributed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any purpose whatsoever (including promotional, commercial or to represent an association with, or endorsement by The Botanical Society), without express prior written permission from The Botanical Society or as otherwise expressly provided for in these Terms.

Provided that a User is eligible to use the Website, the User will be granted a limited license to access and use the Website and to download or print a copy of any portion of the Content to which the User has properly gained access solely for the User’s personal, non-commercial use. The Botanical Society  reserves all rights not expressly granted to a User in and to the Website or Content contained therein.

Privacy Policy

Data protection relating to the collection, processing and storage of personal information is of the highest concern for The Botanical Society  and, as such, all the data collected from Users of the Website is processed and stored according to existing legal provisions prescribed in the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (“ECTA”) and the Protection of Personal Information Act (“POPIA”).

In accordance with the abovementioned legal provisions, The Botanical Society will use all personal information collected and stored by it only for the purposes for which it was collected and/or stored and for as long as it is required by law to store such information. The Botanical Society takes all reasonable and appropriate measures, both technical and operational, to ensure that your personal information is securely stored.

When you interact through the Website, we may collect certain information from you, including personal information that you provide voluntarily. This information may include your name, address, e-mail address, IP addresses, telephone number or birth date. By providing us with the information voluntarily, you are consenting to our use thereof and by doing so you acknowledge, agree and expressly consent that such personal information may be transferred to our servers and authorised third parties.

Please also note that The Botanical Society also receives and stores standard information of a non-identifiable nature. This is information regarding your internet connection, search terms used on our Website, URL, IP address, domain type, browser type, location and device which is received when you interact with the Website. The Botanical Society may use such information to track and improve Website use.

The Botanical Society may use cookies, which are text files stored in your browser that allow us to track Website visits, aggregate data and improve the Website. The Botanical Society may also use web beacons which are electronic images that the Website to count visits to a particular page. Neither of these collect personal information and may also be rejected by Users.

The Botanical Society will primarily use your personal information in order to create and manage membership applications, renewals and confirmations, booking applications and confirmations and to verify, manage and distribute any orders relating to merchandise. Your personal information may be shared with third parties that assist us in providing these services.

The Botanical Society will not share personal contact information with a third party or use your personal information to forward unsolicited marketing materials of any kind, but we may be legally required to disclose it in certain circumstances.

You may, at any time, request to unsubscribe from any of our newsletters or digital communications or have any of your personal contact information removed from our database or servers. You may also ask us to confirm what information we have for you and update this information, if necessary.

Payments and Donations

These Terms apply separately to each payment or donation that a User makes and by confirming on the Website that the User wishes to make a payment or donation the User agrees to be bound by these Terms.

The Botanical Society will apply donations at our discretion but within our stated objectives and on projects identified to achieve these objectives. Such objectives may be reviewed on the Website.

The Botanical Society does not process any card payments directly on our server. We do not store or process personal financial information. Once you confirm to us through the Website that you wish to proceed with your payment or donation your transaction will be processed through our payment services provider(s) PayFast or WebTickets. By using either of these facilities, you will be agreeing to the associated terms and conditions which are independent and unrelated to these Terms. 

Furthermore, by agreeing to use the either the PayFast or WebTickets facility, you hereby indemnify The Botanical Society from any harm or loss suffered either directly or indirectly as a consequence of using the PayFast or WebTickets facility.

If you become aware of fraudulent use of your card, or if it is lost or stolen, you must notify your card provider immediately.

Botanical Society Membership

Acceptance: Acquisition and use of a Membership Card for any Membership Category constitutes acceptance of these Terms.

Membership Cards: The Membership Card remains the property of The Botanical Society . Membership Cards are valid for the Membership Term linked to the barcode printed on the card, which is one year from initial purchase or the last renewal date. Membership Cards have no cash value.

Membership Benefit Conditions: All Membership Benefits are valid only during the Membership Term and shall automatically expire thereafter unless a Member renews their Membership.

Non-transferability: Membership Cards are non-transferable. A Membership Card may only be used by the Member to whom it has been issued. The Member’s unique ID number will be associated with their specific assigned Membership Card upon sign up. Members must be able to provide a valid proof of identification (barcoded ID document or driver’s licence) upon request to gain access to any SANBI gardens. SANBI gate staff will request a valid ID/driver’s licence in order to match a Member’s name and ID number with the data encoded on their Membership Card. SANBI reserves the right to decline entrance to Botanical Society Members who cannot produce a valid proof of ID.

Guest Cards: Red-coloured Guest Cards may only be used by guests who are accompanied into a SANBI garden by the main Member. Guests will not be allowed into a SANBI garden on their own using the red Guest Cards alone.

Lost/Stolen Membership Cards: Lost or stolen Membership Cards must be reported in person to the Botanical Society National Office at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden or at our Gauteng Office at Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden; or by emailing info@botanicalsociety.org.za. A card replacement fee of R100 will be charged for each replacement Membership Card.

Cancellation of Membership: Membership fees are non-refundable, even if a member elects to cancel their Membership before the expiration of the current Membership Term. The Botanical Society further reserves the right to terminate any membership without refund in response to a breach of these Terms or the rules governing the use of any SANBI site or assets.

Indemnity: Entry to all SANBI sites or venues, and participation in any Botanical Society activities are at your personal risk. To the extent afforded by law, The Botanical Society is hereby indemnified and will not be held accountable for any injury, loss or damage to individuals or their property.

In respect of any agreement being concluded with The Botanical Society, please take note that the provisions of Part 2 of Chapter III of the Electronic Communications and Transactions (No. 25 of 2002) (hereinafter the “ECTA”) are hereby excluded from applying to any electronic communications and data messages that you send to The Botanical Society via this Website or any other electronic communications such as email or Whatsapp. Accordingly, any such communications will be regarded as having been received by The Botanical Society when receipt is acknowledged in writing. Offers and agreements will only be valid and enforceable if accepted in writing by The Botanical Society.

Updates

The Botanical Society reserves the right to make improvements, to change or to discontinue, without notice, any aspect or feature of the Website and any information or content on the Website.

The Botanical Society reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change, modify, update, add or remove any portion of the Terms at any time, with or without notice. Continued use of the Website after the posting of any changes to the Terms will signify your acceptance of those changes.

Governing Law

The Botanical Society subscribes to the Governing Laws of South Africa and any actions, posts, object or content expressed, contained on or directed through the Website shall be governed by these laws alone.

Who we are and where to find us

In these Terms, any reference to “we”, “us” or “our” refers to The Botanical Society of South Africa Reg no. 003-394 NPO.

The Botanical Society is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to win the hearts, minds and material support of individuals and organisations, wherever they may be, for the conservation, cultivation, study and wise use of the indigenous flora and vegetation of South Africa.

Any reference to “SANBI” refers to the South African National Biodiversity Institute, a juristic person existing under the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act, No. 10 of 2004, as amended.

The Botanical Society operates from The Botanical Society National Office, Kirstenbosch, Rhodes Drive, Newlands, Cape Town, ZA.

• The Botanical Society will accept legal service at the above address.
• The Botanical Society can be contacted via its Website at www.botanicalsociety.org.za or by emailing info@botanicalsociety.org.za.
• Alternatively, contact us by phone on +27 (0) 21 797 2090 or fax via +27 (0) 21 7972376 or mail to Private Bag X10, Claremont, 7735.

Terms Last Updated: 26 August 2020