Welcome to Shima Hosting, a service of Shima Holdings (Pty) Ltd, a company registered in South Africa. By accessing or using any of our services, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). Please read them carefully before placing an order or using our platform.
1. Acceptance of Terms
By registering an account, purchasing a service, or accessing any part of our platform, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, you may not use our services.
These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("Client" or "you") and Shima Holdings (Pty) Ltd ("Shima Hosting", "we", "us", or "our"). Where you are accepting on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind that entity.
2. Services
Shima Hosting provides web hosting, domain registration, email services, SSL certificates, website design, and related digital services. Services are described on our website and in your order confirmation. We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any service with reasonable notice.
2.1 Service Availability
Services are provided on an "as available" basis. While we strive for maximum uptime, no service is guaranteed to be uninterrupted or error-free at all times. Our uptime commitments are detailed in Section 6.
2.2 Third-Party Services
Some services (including domain registrations) are provided in partnership with third-party registrars or vendors. Their terms and policies apply in addition to ours.
3. Your Account
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activities that occur under your account. You agree to:
- Provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration.
- Notify us immediately of any unauthorised use of your account.
- Not share your login credentials with third parties.
- Be at least 18 years old, or have the consent of a parent or guardian.
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that provide false information or violate these Terms.
4. Payment & Billing
4.1 Pricing
All prices are quoted in South African Rand (ZAR) and inclusive of VAT at the applicable rate unless otherwise stated. Prices are subject to change with 30 days' notice.
4.2 Payment Terms
Invoices are due on the due date shown on the invoice. Accounts that remain unpaid after 7 days may be suspended. Accounts unpaid after 30 days may be terminated and data deleted without further notice.
4.3 Refunds
Domain registrations and certain third-party services are non-refundable. Hosting services cancelled within 30 days of initial purchase may be eligible for a pro-rata refund at our discretion. Renewal fees are non-refundable once processed.
4.4 Failed Payments
If a payment fails, we will attempt to notify you by email. It is your responsibility to ensure your payment details are current and that sufficient funds are available.
5. Acceptable Use Policy
You agree not to use our services for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms. Prohibited activities include but are not limited to:
- Hosting, distributing, or transmitting spam, malware, or phishing content.
- Infringing the intellectual property rights of any third party.
- Hosting or distributing illegal content, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
- Engaging in any activity that degrades the performance of shared infrastructure.
- Conducting unauthorised port scans, network probing, or denial-of-service attacks.
- Using our services to send unsolicited bulk email (spam).
- Hosting cryptocurrency mining scripts or botnets.
Violation of this policy may result in immediate suspension or termination without refund, and may be reported to the South African Police Service or relevant authorities.
6. Uptime & Service Level Agreement
We commit to a 99.9% uptime guarantee for our core hosting infrastructure, measured monthly and excluding scheduled maintenance windows (of which we will provide advance notice where possible).
In the event of downtime attributable to our infrastructure that falls below this SLA, you may request a service credit. Credits are calculated as a proportional reduction of the affected service fee for that month and are applied to your account — they are not paid as cash refunds.
The SLA does not apply to outages caused by factors outside our reasonable control, including network provider outages, force majeure events, client-side issues, or scheduled maintenance.
7. Data & Backups
While we perform routine backups of our infrastructure, you are solely responsible for maintaining your own backup copies of all data hosted on our platform. We do not guarantee that backups will be available or that lost data can be restored.
We reserve the right to delete data from suspended or terminated accounts after 30 days. It is your responsibility to retrieve any data before account closure.
8. Intellectual Property
All content, trademarks, logos, and software on the Shima Hosting platform are the property of Shima Holdings (Pty) Ltd or our licensors. You may not copy, reproduce, or distribute our proprietary materials without prior written consent.
You retain ownership of all content you host on our platform. By hosting content with us, you grant us a limited licence to store and serve that content as necessary to provide the services.
9. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by South African law, Shima Holdings (Pty) Ltd shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, including loss of data, loss of revenue, or loss of business, arising from your use of our services.
Our total liability to you for any claim arising under these Terms shall not exceed the amount you paid to us for the affected service in the 3 months preceding the claim.
10. Termination
You may cancel your services at any time through the client portal. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period unless you request immediate termination.
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account immediately if you breach these Terms, fail to pay outstanding amounts, or engage in activities that harm our network or other clients.
11. Governing Law & Disputes
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Any disputes arising from or related to these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of South Africa.
We encourage you to contact us first to resolve any dispute informally before initiating legal proceedings.
12. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. Where changes are material, we will notify you by email or via notice in the client portal at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Continued use of our services after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
13. Contact Us
If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us:
- Email: legal@shimahosting.co.za
- WhatsApp: +27 68 246 5575
- Registered Address: Shima Holdings (Pty) Ltd, South Africa