Terms of use and disclaimer

1. Who we are and what this site does

This website is operated by the owner of https://www.stuffstolen.co.za ("we", "us", "the operator"). It hosts a register of items that members of the public say were stolen from them, so that a person considering a second-hand purchase can search a serial number or IMEI before they buy.

We are a notice board. We collect no evidence, conduct no investigation, and express no view on any listing. We are not the South African Police Service, an insurer, a licensed investigator, a security service provider, or any organ of state, and we are not connected to any of them.

2. Accepting these terms

By using this site you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, stop using the site. You confirm that you are at least 18 years old and that you have the legal capacity to enter into this agreement. We may change these terms at any time by publishing a new version on this page, and your continued use after that constitutes acceptance of the change.

3. The information here is unverified

Every listing is created by a member of the public. We do not verify, and we have no practical ability to verify:

• whether the person listing an item is who they say they are;
• whether they ever owned or possessed the item;
• whether the item was stolen, lost, repossessed, or sold and regretted;
• whether the serial number, IMEI, make or model is correctly recorded;
• whether a listing has been withdrawn after the item was recovered.

It follows that:

• A match is not proof that an item is stolen, and it is not a basis on its own to accuse anybody of anything.
• No match is not proof that an item is clean. Most stolen property in South Africa is never listed on any register, including this one.
• A listing is not evidence, and we make no undertaking that any record here is admissible, accurate, complete or current.

The register is supplied "as is" and "as available". We give no warranty, express or implied, as to accuracy, completeness, fitness for any purpose, or uninterrupted availability.

4. Your obligations when you list an item

When you create a listing you warrant that:

1. you own the item or lawfully possess it, or you are authorised by the owner to list it;
2. you honestly and reasonably believe the item was stolen or unlawfully taken from you;
3. every detail you enter, in particular the serial number and IMEI, is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge, and you have checked it against the item, its packaging, its invoice or your insurance records;
4. you are not using the listing to harass, defame, extort, pressure or take revenge on any person, or to interfere with a legitimate sale or a lawful dispute over ownership;
5. the personal information you supply is your own, or you have the consent of the person it belongs to;
6. you will update or withdraw the listing promptly once the item is recovered, returned, or you learn that any detail is wrong.

You remain the author of your listing. We publish it on your instruction and at your request.

5. No responsibility for incorrect information

We are not responsible, and accept no liability of any kind, for information captured incorrectly, incompletely, maliciously or fraudulently by any user, nor for any consequence of such information, including a sale that fails, an accusation made against an innocent person, reputational harm, an arrest, a seizure of goods, or any loss of money, time or opportunity.

Where a listing turns out to be wrong, the responsibility lies with the person who created it. We provide a dispute channel (clause 9) and act on it, and that is the limit of our role.

6. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by South African law, and subject to clause 6.3:

1. we are not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential loss or damage arising out of or connected with your use of this site, any listing on it, any reliance on a search result, any act or omission of another user, any failure or downtime of the site, or any unauthorised access to data;
2. where liability cannot be excluded, our total aggregate liability to you from all causes is limited to ZAR 1 000 (one thousand rand), or the total amount you have paid us in the twelve months before the claim arose, whichever is the greater;
3. nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability that may not lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for death or personal injury caused by our gross negligence, for fraud, or any liability that the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 does not permit to be excluded.

You use this site at your own risk and you are responsible for your own decisions, including any decision to buy, not to buy, to confront a seller, or to involve the police.

7. Indemnity

You indemnify us, and hold us harmless, against all claims, demands, actions, damages, penalties, fines, losses, and legal costs on an attorney and own client scale, brought by any person and arising from or connected to:

1. any listing or other content you submit;
2. any inaccurate, misleading or malicious information you supply;
3. your breach of these terms or of any law, including the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013;
4. any accusation, confrontation, dispute or proceeding that follows from your listing.

8. Rules for everyone using the site

You may not:

• create a listing for an item that was not stolen from you;
• use the register to screen, profile, trace or harass a person;
• copy, scrape, bulk-download or republish the register or any substantial part of it, by any automated means;
• attempt to defeat the search limits, the captcha, or any other security measure, which is an offence under the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020;
• use a contact number obtained here for marketing, or for any purpose other than discussing the specific item you searched for.

We may suspend or close any account, and remove any listing, at any time, with or without notice and with or without a reason.

9. Disputed listings and takedown

If you believe a listing refers to property that is lawfully yours, or that a listing about you or your goods is false, use the dispute form or write to admin@stuffstolen.co.za. Tell us the listing reference, who you are, and why the listing is wrong.

We will consider the complaint and may remove or suspend the listing while we do. We decide no ownership disputes: where two people claim the same item, that is a matter for the SAPS or a court, and we may remove the listing until they have dealt with it.

Nothing here limits your right to serve a takedown notice under section 77 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002.

10. Messages passed between users

Where an owner allows it, a person who searches an identifier may send a message to the owner of that listing through a form on this site. We forward it and keep a copy. Neither party is given the other's contact details, except the details a sender chooses to type into the form.

We do not check who sends a message, whether anything in it is true, or what either party does afterwards. A message is not proof of anything. We are not a party to any arrangement, meeting, payment or recovery that follows, and we accept no liability for it, including for any loss, injury, extortion or crime arising from contact between users.

Do not use the form to threaten, insult, defame, extort or mislead anybody, and do not use it to demand payment for the return of property. Doing so may be a criminal offence. We log the sender's IP address with every message and will hand it to the SAPS on a lawful request.

Any user may switch messaging off on their own listing at any time.

11. Personal information

How we handle personal information, and what happens to your phone number if you choose to be contactable, is set out in the privacy notice, which forms part of these terms.

We may disclose any information we hold to the South African Police Service, a court, or another competent authority where we are lawfully required or requested to do so, without notifying you first.

12. Availability

We do not promise that the site will be available at any particular time. We may change, suspend or discontinue it, in whole or in part, permanently or temporarily, without notice and without liability.

13. Intellectual property

The design, layout, code and text of this site belong to the operator. You keep whatever rights you hold in the content you submit, and by submitting it you grant us a free, worldwide, irrevocable licence to store, publish and display it on this site for as long as we see fit.

14. General

These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa, and you consent to the jurisdiction of the Magistrate's Court having jurisdiction over you, even where the claim exceeds that court's normal limits.

If any clause is found to be unenforceable, the rest of these terms continue to apply. Our failure to enforce a right is not a waiver of it. These terms are the whole agreement between us about the use of this site.

15. Contact

Write to admin@stuffstolen.co.za.