This is the Namandla Academy Course Terms, Cancellation and Refund Policy. The governing version is published at namandla.com.
Effective date: 7 August 2026
These Course Terms govern your purchase of and participation in any Namandla Academy course or subscription. They apply in addition to the Namandla Consultants website Terms and Conditions, and to the Privacy and Cookies section of those terms. Where these Course Terms and the website Terms and Conditions differ on a matter concerning an Academy purchase, these Course Terms apply.
By completing a purchase you agree to these Course Terms. Please read section 6, section 8 and section 9 in particular, because they affect when your right to cancel falls away.
1. Who we are
Namandla Academy is the professional learning business of Namandla Consultants (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2016/017981/07, a company incorporated in the Republic of South Africa.
Registered address: 25 Massel Road, Beyerspark, Boksburg, Gauteng, 1459, South Africa
Telephone: 087 188 3388
Email: info@namandla.com
Website: academy.namandla.com
We are the supplier for the purposes of Chapter VII of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (“the ECT Act”) and, where applicable, the supplier for the purposes of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (“the CPA”).
2. Who may enrol
2.1 You must be 18 years or older to enrol. We do not knowingly enrol learners under the age of 18, and we do not offer courses to children.
2.2 You must have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement. If you are enrolling on behalf of an organisation, you confirm that you are authorised to bind that organisation.
2.3 You must give us accurate enrolment details. Your certificate will be issued in the name you supply, and we are not obliged to reissue a certificate to correct information you gave us incorrectly, although we will usually do so as a courtesy.
3. What we sell
3.1 Individual courses. A single self-paced online course, purchased for a one-time fee. The course page states the number of lessons and the approximate running time of the course content.
3.2 Yearly Course Subscription. Access to the full Namandla Academy course catalogue for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase, for a single fee. The subscription does not renew automatically. If you want a further year, you purchase it again.
3.3 Course availability, catalogue size, running times and pricing may change. The course page and checkout in force at the time of your purchase govern what you bought.
3.4 Nothing on our website is an offer capable of acceptance until we accept your order and confirm your enrolment.
4. What your certificate is, and what it is not
Please read this section carefully. It is the most common source of misunderstanding.
4.1 Namandla Academy courses are accredited by the CPD Certification Service under CPD Quality Standards (“CPDQS”), which is based in the United Kingdom. CPD accreditation confirms that the course content conforms to recognised continuing professional development principles.
4.2 Our courses are not South African qualifications. They are not registered on the National Qualifications Framework. They do not carry NQF credits. They are not accredited by the South African Qualifications Authority, by any Sector Education and Training Authority, or by the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations.
4.3 Completing a course does not confer a qualification, a part-qualification, a trade or occupational certificate, professional registration, a professional designation, a licence to practise, or a statutory competency.
4.4 Completing a course does not guarantee employment, promotion, a salary increase, admission to further study, recognition by any professional body, or any other commercial or career outcome.
4.5 Whether a professional body, employer or regulator recognises CPD hours from our courses is a matter for that body. We do not represent that any particular body will do so. If recognition matters to you, please confirm it with that body before you purchase.
5. Price and payment
5.1 All prices are shown in South African Rand and include value-added tax where VAT applies.
5.2 Payment is made through our online checkout using the payment methods shown there. Payment is processed by a third-party payment provider. We do not receive or store your full card details.
5.3 Your order is not accepted, and access is not granted, until payment has been received in full and cleared.
5.4 Where a price is displayed alongside a higher comparison price, the higher price is the price at which the course was genuinely offered during the period stated on the course page.
5.5 We may correct an obviously incorrect price before accepting your order. If we do, we will tell you and give you the choice of confirming your order at the correct price or cancelling it for a full refund.
6. When access begins, and your consent to immediate access
6.1 You receive access to the full course, or to the full catalogue in the case of a subscription, immediately on our acceptance of your order and receipt of cleared payment. There is no waiting period and no manual approval step.
6.2 At checkout you are asked to confirm that you want access to begin immediately. Your purchase cannot proceed without that confirmation, because immediate access is how the service is delivered.
6.3 By giving that confirmation, you consent to the service beginning before the end of the seven-day period referred to in section 8 below, and you accept the consequence set out in clause 8.3.
7. How long your access lasts
7.1 Individual courses. Access is granted for 12 months from the date of enrolment.
7.2 Yearly Course Subscription. Access to the catalogue is granted for 12 months from the date of purchase. On expiry, access to all courses ends, including any course you started but did not finish.
7.3 Certificates are not affected by expiry. A certificate you have earned does not expire, remains yours, and remains verifiable through the Namandla Academy Certificate Validator after your course or subscription access has ended. We recommend you download and keep a copy of each certificate when it is issued.
7.4 We may extend access at our discretion, for example where illness, bereavement or a documented technical problem on our side prevented you from completing a course. Ask us. We would rather extend your access than argue about a refund.
7.5 Access is provided for as long as we continue to offer the course. If we withdraw a course during your access period, section 18 applies.
8. Your cooling-off right under the ECT Act
8.1 Section 44 of the ECT Act entitles a consumer to cancel an electronic transaction without reason and without penalty within seven days after the conclusion of the agreement, in the case of services.
8.2 Section 42(2)(d) of the ECT Act provides that this right does not apply to services which began with the consumer’s consent before the end of the seven-day period.
8.3 Because you receive immediate access to your course, and because you confirm at checkout that you want the service to begin immediately, the service begins with your consent before the seven-day period ends. The section 44 cooling-off right therefore does not apply once you have accessed the course or the catalogue.
8.4 If you have paid but have not accessed the course or the catalogue at all, we will treat your section 44 right as applying and refund you in full on request within the seven-day period. See clause 9.1.
8.5 Nothing in this section limits any right you have under the ECT Act, the CPA or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.
9. Cancellation and refunds — individual courses
9.1 You may cancel a course and receive a full refund provided that you have consumed less than 30 minutes of the course content, as recorded by our learning platform, and that no more than seven days have passed since your purchase. Email info@namandla.com with your order number.
9.2 Once you have consumed 30 minutes or more of the course content, or once seven days have passed since your purchase, the course is not refundable. The usage recorded by our learning platform is the measure we apply.
9.3 A course is not refundable once you have attempted the final assessment or been issued a certificate, whatever your recorded viewing time. The assessment and the certificate are the substance of what you bought.
9.4 We will acknowledge a refund request within two business days and give you a decision within seven business days. Where a refund is due, we will pay it within 30 days of the cancellation, to the payment method you used.
9.5 We do not offer a money-back or satisfaction guarantee. A change of mind, a decision that the subject matter was not what you expected, or a failure to find time to complete the course, is not a ground for a refund once the course has been materially used. The course page sets out the curriculum, the running time and the learning outcomes before you buy, and we ask you to read it.
9.6 Clauses 9.1 to 9.5 set out our own refund policy. They do not limit your rights where we have failed to deliver, which are dealt with in section 11, or any statutory right you have.
10. Cancellation and refunds — Yearly Course Subscription
10.1 The subscription is a fixed-term agreement of 12 months.
10.2 If you are an individual consumer, section 14 of the CPA entitles you to cancel this agreement at any time on 20 business days’ written notice to info@namandla.com. We may charge a reasonable cancellation penalty, and we will tell you what it is before it is applied.
10.3 Where you cancel under clause 10.2, we will refund the portion of your subscription fee attributable to the unexpired months of the term, less the reasonable cancellation penalty. In setting that penalty we consider the factors in regulation 5(2) of the CPA regulations, including the value of the catalogue access you have already had, the number of courses you enrolled in, the certificates issued to you, and the duration of the term remaining.
10.4 Access ends on the date the cancellation takes effect. Certificates already earned are unaffected, in accordance with clause 7.3.
10.5 Section 14 of the CPA does not apply to a transaction between juristic persons. Where the subscription is purchased by an organisation rather than by an individual, cancellation is governed by the written order form or agreement between us, and clauses 10.2 and 10.3 do not apply.
10.6 We do not otherwise refund a subscription. In particular, we do not refund on the basis that you did not use the catalogue as much as you expected to.
11. Where we fail to deliver
11.1 If we do not provide the course or subscription you paid for, you are entitled to a full refund. This includes where we accept your order and are then unable to grant you access, or where the course you bought is not the course delivered.
11.2 Section 46 of the ECT Act requires us to execute your order within 30 days unless we have agreed otherwise with you, and to refund you within 30 days if we cannot perform. We will do so.
11.3 Where a course we supplied is materially defective — for example, where lesson content is missing, corrupted or does not correspond to the published curriculum — tell us. We will repair the defect, provide an equivalent course, or refund you, and we will discuss which of those you prefer.
12. Technical problems and access difficulties
12.1 If you cannot access a course you have paid for, contact info@namandla.com with your order number and a description of the problem. We will investigate.
12.2 Where the problem is on our side or on the side of our learning platform, we will restore your access and, where the interruption was material, extend your access period by at least the period you lost.
12.3 Where the problem is on your side — your internet connection, your device, your browser, your employer’s network restrictions, or a device that does not meet the requirements published on the course page — we will help you where we reasonably can, but it is not a ground for a refund.
12.4 We do not warrant that the platform will be available without interruption or free of faults. We do undertake to address faults reported to us within a reasonable time.
13. Assessments and re-attempts
13.1 Each course ends with an online assessment which you must pass to complete the course. Answers are marked automatically and your result is shown to you immediately.
13.2 There is no limit on the number of times you may attempt the assessment within your access period, at no additional cost.
13.3 You must complete assessments yourself. Submitting work that is not your own, arranging for another person to complete an assessment on your behalf, or sharing assessment content with others, is a breach of these Course Terms and section 20 applies.
14. Certificates
14.1 A digital certificate is issued to you on successful completion of the assessment. Certificates are issued in the name recorded on your account.
14.2 Certificates do not carry an expiry date. We nevertheless recommend that you refresh CPD learning periodically, and many professional bodies expect this.
14.3 Certificates can be verified through the Namandla Academy Certificate Validator. We retain the certification record — your name, the course completed and the date — indefinitely, as set out in the Privacy and Cookies section of our website Terms and Conditions.
14.4 We may withhold or revoke a certificate where the assessment was not completed by you, where these Course Terms were breached, or where the purchase was reversed by a chargeback or a failed payment. Where we revoke a certificate we will notify you, and the verification record will show the certificate as revoked.
15. Your account, sharing and transfers
15.1 Your enrolment is personal to you. Your account credentials are for your use alone.
15.2 You may not share your login, allow another person to study under your account, or sit an assessment on another person’s behalf. Access is monitored, and concurrent use from multiple locations may result in suspension.
15.3 Enrolments are not transferable between learners. A course or subscription bought for one named learner cannot be reassigned to another. This is a certification-integrity requirement, not an administrative preference. Corporate purchases are dealt with separately in section 17.
15.4 Where an employer has purchased on your behalf, the employer may be given confirmation of your enrolment, your progress and your outcome, as set out in the Privacy and Cookies section of our website Terms and Conditions.
16. Intellectual property
16.1 Course content — video, audio, text, slides, workbooks, assessments and any downloadable material — is owned by us or by our licensors and is protected by copyright.
16.2 On enrolment you receive a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and use the content for your own learning, for the duration of your access period. You receive no other rights.
16.3 You may not copy, record, screen-capture, download (other than material we expressly make available for download), republish, distribute, sell, sub-licence, translate, adapt or use the content to train an automated system, and you may not use it to deliver training to any other person.
16.4 Breach of this section is a material breach. Section 20 applies, and we reserve all other remedies.
17. Bulk and corporate purchases
17.1 Organisations purchasing multiple enrolments should contact us at info@namandla.com for a quotation. Bulk discounts are available and are agreed in writing.
17.2 Corporate purchases are made under a written quotation, order form or services agreement. Where such a document exists, it governs the purchase and prevails over sections 9 and 10 of these Course Terms to the extent of any conflict.
17.3 The CPA does not apply to a transaction between juristic persons in the circumstances set out in section 5(2) of that Act. Cancellation, refund and access terms for corporate purchases are therefore those agreed in writing between us.
17.4 The organisation must nominate named learners. Seats may be reallocated to a different learner only before that seat has been activated, and only with our written agreement.
18. If we change or withdraw a course
18.1 We may update course content, improve it, or correct errors in it, at any time. Improvement of content you have already paid for is not a ground for a refund.
18.2 We may withdraw a course from the catalogue. Where we withdraw a course you have purchased and have not yet completed, we will, at your election, extend your access to allow you to complete it, provide an equivalent course at no charge, or refund the portion of the fee attributable to the unexpired part of your access period.
18.3 Where a course is withdrawn from the catalogue during a subscription term and you had not started it, no refund is due, because the subscription is access to a catalogue rather than to a specified course.
18.4 We will give reasonable notice of a withdrawal where it is within our control to do so.
19. Learner support
19.1 Learner support is available through the learning platform and by email to info@namandla.com. We aim to acknowledge a support request within one business day. Queries about course content may be routed to our learning-platform provider, and the response time for those depends on that provider.
19.2 Support covers help with accessing your course, navigating the platform, understanding course content, and technical problems. It does not include completing assessments on your behalf, individual tuition outside the course, or advice on whether a qualification will be recognised by a third party.
19.3 Administrative queries — orders, invoices, refunds, certificates and personal information — should be sent to info@namandla.com or 087 188 3388.
20. Conduct, suspension and termination
20.1 We may suspend or terminate your access, without refund, where you breach section 13, section 15 or section 16, where you use the platform unlawfully, or where you behave abusively toward our staff or our support providers.
20.2 Before suspending access for a first, non-serious breach we will normally warn you and give you an opportunity to put it right. We will not do so where the breach is serious or deliberate.
20.3 On termination under this section, clause 14.4 and sections 16 and 22 survive.
21. Your personal information
21.1 We process your personal information in accordance with the Privacy and Cookies section of our website Terms and Conditions, which is our notification to you in terms of section 18 of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.
21.2 That section explains what we collect on enrolment, why, who we share it with — including our accreditation body and our overseas learning-platform provider — how long we keep it, and how to exercise your rights.
21.3 Our Information Officer is Juan Kaltwasser, Managing Director, reachable at info@namandla.com.
22. Limitation of liability
22.1 We provide our courses with reasonable care and skill. We do not warrant that a course will meet a particular objective of yours, or that it will produce a particular result.
22.2 To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of opportunity, or loss arising from a decision you took on the strength of course content.
22.3 Where we are liable to you in connection with a purchase, our liability is limited to the amount you paid for that course or subscription.
22.4 Nothing in this section excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability arising under sections 54, 55 and 61 of the CPA, liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or liability for fraud. Section 51 of the CPA renders certain exemptions void, and we do not seek to rely on any term that would be void under it.
23. Complaints and dispute resolution
23.1 Talk to us first. Most matters are resolved quickly. Send your complaint to info@namandla.com with your order number and what you would like us to do. We will acknowledge within two business days and respond substantively within 10 business days.
23.2 If we cannot resolve it between us, you may refer the matter to:
- The National Consumer Commission, for complaints under the Consumer Protection Act — 012 428 7000, complaints@thencc.org.za
- The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud, where the matter falls within its jurisdiction — 0860 000 272, info@cgso.org.za
- The Consumer Affairs Committee, in respect of a failure to comply with Chapter VII of the ECT Act, as contemplated in section 49 of that Act
- The Information Regulator (South Africa), for a complaint about how we handled your personal information — 010 023 5200, POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
23.3 Referring a complaint to any of these bodies does not affect your right to approach a competent South African court.
24. Changes to these Course Terms
24.1 We may update these Course Terms as our courses, our platform or the law change. The version in force is the one published on this page on the date of your purchase, and that is the version that governs your purchase.
24.2 A change to these Course Terms does not retrospectively alter the access period, the refund position or the cancellation rights attaching to a purchase you have already made.
24.3 Where a change materially affects learners with active access, we will say so on this page and, where we hold your email address, notify you.
25. Governing law and jurisdiction
25.1 These Course Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa.
25.2 The South African courts have jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory dispute-resolution right that applies to you by law.
25.3 In accordance with section 47 of the ECT Act, the consumer protections in Chapter VII of that Act apply irrespective of the legal system otherwise applicable to this agreement.
26. Contact
Namandla Consultants (Pty) Ltd, trading as Namandla Academy
25 Massel Road, Beyerspark, Boksburg, Gauteng, 1459, South Africa
087 188 3388 | info@namandla.com | academy.namandla.com
Privacy matters should be marked for the attention of the Information Officer.
Last updated: 7 September 2026