THE USE OF THIS WEBSITE IS GOVERNED BY THE FOLLOWING TERMS OF USE:

Welcome to the website of Geopolitical Intelligence (Pty) Ltd, t/a GI ADVISORY. By continuing to browse and utilise our website, services and products you are acknowledging your agreement to abide by the following terms and conditions of use. These terms and conditions, along with our privacy policy, govern the relationship between you and GI ADVISORY regarding this website and our offerings. By accessing our website, you are acknowledging that you have read, understood, and agreed to the Terms of Use. If you do not agree to the terms and conditions of use, we kindly ask that you refrain from using GI ADVISORYs’ website, services, and products.

  1. DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS

1.1. The following terms shall have the meanings assigned to them hereunder, namely:

a. The term “GI ADVISORY” refers to Geopolitical Intelligence (Pty) Ltd, which is registered under the number 2020786405/07.

b. “The client” refers to the individual or organization that enters into a contract with GI ADVISORY for the purpose of business intelligence and other advisory services.

c. The term “parties” refers to GI ADVISORY and the client who has entered into an agreement with GI ADVISORY.

d. The term “products” refers to business concept notes, OSINT reports, strategic plans, profiles, proposals, learning material, websites, digital business cards, QR codes, and others that may be agreed upon from time to time.

e. “Services” refers to business intelligence, research, analysis, consultation, content curation, content delivery, investigation, presentation, meeting attendance, business optimization, social media optimization, retainer for product maintenance, as well as guidance to ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations including the protection of personal information.

1.2. Words that refer to a specific gender will be understood to include all genders. Similarly, words that are in the singular form will also encompass the plural form, and vice versa. References to natural persons will include legal entities, and vice versa.

  1. TERMS OF USE

2.1. The terms of the working relationship between GI ADVISORY and the client govern all projects or services that GI ADVISORY may be contracted to produce or provide. These terms of use apply to the relationship entered into between the parties.

2.2. By accepting a quotation issued by GI ADVISORY, the client acknowledges and agrees to abide by terms of use outlined herein.

  1. COSTS

3.1. Needs Analysis. Before GI Advisory provides a proposed or estimated cost for a project, we conduct a needs analysis to understand the client’s requirements. This process is charged at our standard hourly rate of R1682, in line with DPSA consultant guidelines, and is payable in advance of any needs analysis sessions. Clients must provide all necessary content, including a summary of their business operations, to inform this analysis and subsequent cost estimates. Should the client accept a quotation and proceed with the project, the needs analysis fee will be subtracted from the total project amount. If the client chooses not to proceed, this fee is non-refundable, reflecting the work undertaken during the needs analysis.

3.2. Research and Design. If a client cannot provide a comprehensive project specification, GI Advisory will conduct initial research and analysis to determine the technical requirements essential for project completion. This service is charged at our standard hourly rates—R451 for an assistant analyst, R899 for a lead analyst, or R1682 for the project leader (DPSA-aligned)—payable in advance. The applicable rate depends on the expertise required, as determined by GI Advisory. Should the client accept a quotation and proceed with the project, this fee will be subtracted from the total project amount. If the client does not proceed, the fee is non-refundable, reflecting the work completed.

3.3. 30-day Rule. The cost estimates provided by GI ADVISORY for the client’s project specifications will be valid for acceptance within 30 days. GI ADVISORY accepts requests to amend cost estimates if the request is made within a 30-day period.

3.4. All cost estimates provided by GI ADVISORY are prepared based on the Needs Analysis of each project. Therefore, GI ADVISORY holds the right to revise any cost estimates in the event that the project’s specifications change.

3.5. Commencement. GI ADVISORY will not begin any project until it receives a formal acceptance in writing, either via email or WhatsApp message, as well as full payment for the project.

3.6. Confirmation of Order and Payment. On formally accepting a cost estimate issued by GI ADVISORY, the client shall be responsible for the total amount quoted, and GI ADVISORY will immediately issue a tax invoice for that amount to the client. Payment is to be made via electronic fund transfer or cash deposit into a bank account provided by GI ADVISORY. Once proof of payment has been received, GI ADVISORY will commence with the project.

3.7. Refund. In the event that the parties are unable to proceed with the project and GI ADVISORY has already started the project documentation or design, the client will be eligible for a refund of up to fifty percent (50%) of the amount paid.

  1. PROJECT BRIEF AND SPECIFICATIONS
    The client is solely responsible for providing a project brief that includes detailed, accurate, and concise specifications in a document such as a business or organisational profile. GI ADVISORY has the right to charge additional fees for profile development based on our standard hourly rates.
  2. PROJECT PHASES

5.1. Every project will go through a series of phases, starting from its inception and continuing until it is commissioned. For each phase of the project, it is necessary to obtain a formal written acknowledgement of completion from the client. This can be done through email or WhatsApp. GI ADVISORY will require the client’s approval of the previous phase before proceeding with the next phase of the project. GI ADVISORY reserves the right to pause the project until approval is received and will not be held responsible if the project’s deadline is not met due to the client’s delay to approve the previous phase or provide required data.

5.2. Requests for alterations and additions can be made at any point during the development phase of a project. GI ADVISORY will assess whether these requests align with the original project brief and specifications. If the request goes beyond the original brief and specifications, GI ADVISORY reserves the right to provide a quote and bill for any work done in addition to the original amount quoted. GI ADVISORY will first obtain written approval from the client before starting any work.

5.3. We will test and optimise all our products for compatibility with Firefox, Chrome, and Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer 9 is not supported. Once coded, the final product may not be an exact replica of the approved design. This is because certain elements such as visual elements, design elements, font weight, and styling may undergo slight changes during the coding process where items may render differently in HTML compared to the signed off project brief.

  1. HOSTING

6.1. GI ADVISORY can assist with web-hosting services at a prescribed monthly fee. In order to successfully complete the project, it is necessary for GI ADVISORY to have the correct File Transfer Protocol (FTP) details. In this regard, the client is responsible for ensuring that their hosting provider fully cooperates with GI ADVISORY. GI ADVISORY will not provide FTP details, database logins, or any other confidential information to any party without written instructions from the client or an authorized representative of the client. GI ADVISORY reserves the right to suspend the website, as well as any associated e-mails and tools used on the domain, if the client fails to pay for the domain hosting costs.

6.2. GI ADVISORY cannot be held responsible or liable for any financial loss suffered by a client due to technical difficulties or downtime experienced by their products, if it is determined that the hosting provider is the source of the problem.

  1. DISCLAIMER FOR LIABILITY/ INDEMNITY

7.1. The client indemnifies and discharges GI ADVISORY from all liability for any loss, damage, or expense incurred by or resulting from:

a. Any event or condition outside of GI ADVISORY’s reasonable control; or
b. Any disruption, outage, or lack of accessibility to any service or network infrastructure as a result of or due to any of the following causes;

i. Load shedding, damage to telecommunication infrastructure, social unrest, software of hardware service, repairs, maintenance, upgrades, modifications, alternations, replacement or relocation of premises;
ii. The non-performance or unavailability of whatever nature and howsoever arising of any of the services provided by state institutions (including, but not limited to, line failure) or in any international services or remote mail service;
iii. The non-performance or unavailability of whatever nature and howsoever arising, of external communications networks through which the client’s server or the GI ADVISORY’s network is connected;
iv. The service, repairs, maintenance, upgrades, modification, alterations or replacements of any hardware forming part of the client’s services or any faults or defects of whatsoever nature in such hardware;
v. Any infringement of the client’s rights of privacy and/or any other like rights (including those of any other persons or entity), arising from the services provided in terms of the agreement;
vi. Any breach of security by any third party or any breach of confidentiality by a third party or otherwise arising from any access howsoever obtained by a third party to the client’s information, data or content;
vii. The damage, contamination or corruption of any kind of the client’s data, material, information and/or content howsoever occasioned;
viii. Any service, repairs, maintenance, upgrades, modifications, alterations, replacement or work of any nature done on the client’s hardware, software or systems by any party other than by GI ADVISORY;

7.2. It is recommended that the client creates backups of all their data. However, it is important to note that the information provided in this paragraph should not be interpreted as a guarantee from GI ADVISORY that any data backups implemented by the client will be successful or completely prevent any potential disasters.

  1. MAINTENANCE AND UPGRADES
    GI ADVISORY reserves their right to temporarily suspend its obligations in terms of this agreement in order to service, repair, maintain, upgrade, modify, alter, replace or improve any of GI ADVISORY’s services. Where possible, GI ADVISORY shall use its best endeavours to provide prior notice of any such suspension to the client. The client shall not be entitled to any set off, discount, refund or other credit in respect of such suspension of service nor in respect of any suspension that is beyond GI ADVISORY’s control.
  2. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

9.1. The party who owns or holds intellectual property rights, including those obtained or developed after the start of this agreement, will continue to be the sole owner of those rights. This applies to any intellectual property rights held under a licensing agreement with an independent third party.

9.2. The client is not allowed to use any of the trademarks, logos, brand names, domain names, or other marks (referred to as “marks”) of GI ADVISORY without obtaining prior written approval from GI ADVISORY. The client is granting GI ADVISORY a non-exclusive license to use the client’s marks. This license is only applicable to the extent that GI ADVISORY needs to exercise its rights or fulfil its obligations under this agreement.

9.3. All work completed for the client as part of the project, including any copyright associated with the work, will be the sole property of GI ADVISORY. The work will remain on GI ADVISORY’s servers until all payments have been made. For the final payments on all accounts, the client may request that GI ADVISORY cede and assign the copyright in the work done. GI ADVISORY is not responsible for any copyright infringements of content provided by the client. The client is responsible for providing original content, including written material, images and videos.

9.4. The client agrees to indemnify, hold harmless, and defend GI ADVISORY at its own expense against any and all claims for infringement of copyright, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, or other intellectual property rights issued under the laws of any country where:

a. the client provided the copyright, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, or other intellectual property.
b. the client explicitly or implicitly represented that the copyright, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, or other intellectual property belonged to it.
the client requested GI ADVISORY to download, copy, access, or use the copyright, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, or other intellectual property.

9.5. The client also agrees not to provide GI ADVISORY with any items or request GI ADVISORY to download, access, copy, or use any items, such as images, software, computer code, and written material, unless it has the legal right to use those items for the purpose related to our work.

  1. PRIVACY

10.1. Both parties acknowledge that, in relation to these terms of use, each party may receive confidential or proprietary technical and business information and materials from the other party. This includes all artwork, concepts, sketches, visual presentations, or any other preliminary documents.

10.2. Both parties, along with their agents and employees, are obligated to keep all confidential information strictly confidential. They are not allowed to share this information with any third party, nor can they use it for any purpose other than fulfilling their obligations under the agreement, unless required by a court of law or other competent authority. However, it is important to note that confidential information does not include any information that is already publicly available or becomes publicly known without any involvement or fault of the receiving partner.

10.3. Additionally, information received from a third party without any expectation of privacy is also not considered confidential.

  1. WHOLE AGREEMENT

11.1. The client’s agreement to abide by these terms of use will begin on the date they accept and pay the costing estimates. It will remain in effect until the project is completed and delivered, or if the project is cancelled.

11.2. Either party may terminate the project by providing a written notice of 14 days. Alternatively, the project can be terminated at any time if both parties agree to it.

11.3. If the project is cancelled before completion, GI ADVISORY will be entitled to receive the payment for the work already completed on a pro rata basis. The measurement of progress will be based on the actual work completed and the number of hours dedicated to the project, which may vary from the initial cost estimates.

GOVERNING LAW
The laws of the Republic of South Africa shall govern and interpret these terms and conditions.