Kostra — Terms of Use

These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your access to and use of Kostra, a private software service available at kostra.co.za and as a mobile web application (the "Service"), operated by [Company (Pty) Ltd], a company registered in South Africa with registration number [reg no], of [registered address] ("Kostra", "we", "us", "our").

By creating an account, subscribing to Kostra Pro, or otherwise using the Service, you ("you", "the user") agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. What Kostra is — and is not

1.1 Kostra is a private software tool that lets PSIRA-registered security businesses find PSIRA-registered security officers who have published that they are available for relief, spare, standby or shift cover in a given area, and contact them directly via WhatsApp to discuss covering a post. Kostra verifies registration and surfaces availability; that is all it does.

1.2 Kostra is not, and must not be represented as: a security service provider, security business, or private security company; a labour broker, temporary employment service, or placement agency; an employer, agent, or representative of any user; or a party to, guarantor of, or intermediary in any work, posting, payment, or engagement between users. Kostra does not deploy, manage, supervise, roster, book, contract, pay, or take responsibility for any security officer or any service performed.

1.3 Using the Service creates no employment, agency, partnership, joint venture, or fiduciary relationship between you and Kostra.

1.4 Kostra covers unarmed guarding only. The Service must not be used to source, offer, or arrange any armed or firearm-related security function.

2. Eligibility and verification

2.1 Membership is open only to: (a) Security officers who are individually registered with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority ("PSIRA") and in good standing; and (b) Security businesses or in-house security employers that hold a valid PSIRA business / in-house registration.

2.2 You warrant that the information you provide — including your legal name, PSIRA registration number, grade (officers), company name and registration number (businesses), and contact details — is true, accurate, and current, and that you are duly registered and entitled to provide or procure the relevant security services.

2.3 We verify your PSIRA registration by checking your PSIRA number and details against PSIRA's public verification records, with manual review before approval. Until verification is complete your account shows "Pending" and the network features (search and contact) remain locked. We may decline, suspend, or terminate any account we are unable to verify or that we reasonably believe contains false information. Verification confirms registration status only; it is not a warranty of a user's competence, conduct, or suitability.

2.4 Registration is re-checked periodically and lapses in line with PSIRA renewal cycles (officer certificates renew on a 24-month cycle; business registrations annually). You must keep your details current. Changing your mobile number requires re-verification by one-time PIN (OTP).

3. Accounts, subscription, billing and cancellation

3.1 Kostra is offered on two tiers: (a) Free — security officers use Kostra free at all times. Security businesses may register, complete verification, and browse the verified pool of available officers at no charge. No payment card is required for a Free account. (b) Pro — R499 per month — a paid subscription for security businesses that unlocks the single paid action: contacting an available officer via WhatsApp from the Service.

3.2 The contact action is Pro-only from launch. A Free business that taps "Contact" is taken to the upgrade flow.

3.3 When you upgrade to Pro, payment is processed by PayFast (Payfast (Pty) Ltd), our payment gateway. Your card details are entered on PayFast's secure pages — we do not see or store your full card details; we hold only a PayFast subscription reference and your subscription status. Before any charge you are shown the plan, price, billing frequency and renewal date, and recurring monthly billing of R499 begins only after you confirm the upgrade. Your subscription then renews automatically each month until you cancel.

3.4 If a Pro payment fails, we will attempt to recover it and notify you. If it remains unsuccessful after our retry period, Pro features may be paused; your Free account remains.

3.5 You may cancel Pro at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid month, after which the account reverts to Free. No refunds are given except where required by law or in the case of a genuine billing error.

3.6 We may change the price of Pro on reasonable prior notice; continued use of Pro after the change takes effect constitutes acceptance.

4. Acceptable use

4.1 You may use the Service only to publish or find genuine relief availability and to make contact for the purpose of arranging relief cover. You must not:

• contact users for any purpose other than discussing or arranging relief cover, or send unsolicited marketing, spam, or harassing messages;
• collect, scrape, copy, store, or redistribute other users' information, including any attempt to extract or compile contact details or addresses;
• misrepresent your identity, PSIRA registration, grade, or right to provide or procure security services;
• use the Service unlawfully or in breach of PSIRA requirements, the Private Security Industry Regulation Act, applicable labour law, or any sectoral determination;
• interfere with, probe, or attempt to circumvent the security, access controls, or privacy protections of the Service.

4.2 To protect users, we limit the number of contacts a business may initiate in a day. Excessive contact attempts may be flagged or limited. We may suspend or terminate accounts for breach of this clause and may report conduct to PSIRA where appropriate.

5. Privacy and contact details

5.1 Our handling of personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

5.2 Mobile numbers and home/base addresses are not displayed on the Service. A business searching the pool sees only an officer's display name, grade, verified status, suburb, and approximate distance — never an exact address or phone number. When a business chooses to contact an officer, the Service opens WhatsApp; at that point the two parties exchange WhatsApp numbers, as is inherent to contacting someone on WhatsApp. By using the contact feature you consent to this exchange for the purpose of arranging relief cover, and you must not use any number or detail so obtained for any other purpose.

6. The audit record

6.1 We keep a record of each contact made through the Service (which business contacted which officer, when, and the officer's verified status at that time) as a compliance and abuse-prevention measure. We do not record the content of any WhatsApp conversation.

7. Engagements between users

7.1 Any arrangement for an officer to provide relief cover is a private arrangement strictly between the users concerned (the security business and the officer, or their respective employers). Kostra merely makes an introduction; it is not a party to, and gives no warranty or guarantee in respect of, any such arrangement.

7.2 Kostra does not handle, set, process, or take responsibility for any fee, wage, or payment between users. Each user is solely responsible for ensuring that any engagement, deployment, wage, and posting complies with the Private Security Industry Regulation Act, PSIRA requirements, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and any applicable sectoral determination, and all other applicable law.

7.3 Kostra does not verify, guarantee, or take responsibility for: whether an officer will attend or perform; the competence, conduct, or suitability of any user; or the outcome of any posting. Each user remains fully responsible for its own legal and professional obligations, including ensuring that any post is lawfully and properly manned.

8. Intellectual property

8.1 The Service, including its software, design, text, and branding, is owned by [Company (Pty) Ltd] or its licensors. We grant you a limited, personal, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the Service for its intended purpose while your account is active. You acquire no other rights.

9. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

9.1 The Service is provided "as is" and "as available". We do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that information users enter (including availability or registration details) is accurate or current.

9.2 To the fullest extent permitted by law, Kostra is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential loss, or any loss of profit, opportunity, data, or goodwill, arising from your use of or inability to use the Service — including any unmanned or improperly manned post, any failure of a user to attend or perform, any loss or incident at a post, or any reliance on information obtained through the Service.

9.3 To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim arising out of or relating to the Service is limited to the fees (if any) you paid us in the three (3) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

9.4 Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that may not lawfully be excluded or limited under South African law, including under the Consumer Protection Act and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act where applicable.

10. Suspension and termination

10.1 We may suspend or terminate your access immediately if you breach these Terms, if we cannot verify your PSIRA registration, on the instruction of a competent authority, or to protect the Service or its users.

10.2 You may delete your account at any time from Profile → Delete account. This immediately and permanently deletes your account, profile, availability, and contact history, and cannot be undone. We may retain limited records we are required by law to keep, and anonymised or aggregate data.

11. Changes to these Terms

11.1 We may amend these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified by email or in-app. Continued use after the changes take effect constitutes acceptance.

12. Governing law and disputes

12.1 These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. 12.2 Any dispute must first be referred to good-faith negotiation and, failing resolution, to mediation, and failing that, to the jurisdiction of the South African courts.

13. General

13.1 If any provision is found invalid, the remaining provisions continue in force. 13.2 Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. 13.3 These Terms, with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service.

14. Contact

[Company (Pty) Ltd] · Registration number [reg no] · [registered address] · Email: support@kostra.co.za

15. Supplier information (Electronic Communications and Transactions Act)

This information is provided in terms of section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 ("ECTA").

Full legal name: [Company (Pty) Ltd]. Registration number: [reg no]. Registered address: [registered address]. Contact: support@kostra.co.za. Website: kostra.co.za.

Description of the service: a subscription software platform that lets PSIRA-registered security businesses find PSIRA-registered security officers who have published that they are available for relief, spare, standby or shift cover in a given area, and contact them directly via WhatsApp to discuss covering a post. Kostra verifies registration and surfaces availability. Kostra covers unarmed guarding only. Kostra makes verified introductions; it is not a security service provider, employer, or labour broker, and is not a party to any engagement between users (see clause 1).

Price: Kostra Pro is R499 per month; the Free tier is R0. Kostra Pro is the paid tier for security businesses; security officers use Kostra free. No VAT is charged (Kostra is not a registered VAT vendor) and there are no additional charges. Payment is processed securely by PayFast. Kostra does not belong to any self-regulatory or accreditation body in respect of this service.

Cancellation and cooling-off: Kostra Pro is a month-to-month subscription with no fixed term. You may cancel at any time from within the app; cancellation stops future billing and takes effect at the end of the current paid month (see clause 3). To the extent section 44 of ECTA applies to the initial electronic subscription transaction, any statutory cooling-off right is in addition to this cancellation right; because the Service is supplied immediately on subscription, use of the Service during any cooling-off period may be charged pro-rata as permitted by law.

The applicable terms are these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy, available at kostra.co.za/terms and kostra.co.za/privacy.