Terms of Use

1. About SD-LINK and these Terms

SD-LINK is an online skills-development marketplace and learning platform operated by {{COMPANY_REGISTERED_NAME}} (registration number {{CIPC_REGISTRATION_NUMBER}}) (“SD-LINK”, “we”, “us”). It lets accredited training providers list, sell and deliver courses, and lets learners discover, apply for, pay for, complete and be certified in those courses.

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) apply to everyone who visits or uses the SD-LINK websites and apps — the public marketplace, the learner portal, the training-provider portal, the community forum, the HR partner portal and the administration portal (together, the “Platform”).

By creating an account, ticking the acceptance box at sign-up, or otherwise using the Platform, you agree to these Terms. If you use SD-LINK on behalf of an organisation, you confirm that you have authority to bind it. If you do not agree, please do not use the Platform.

These Terms are read together with our Privacy Notice, Cookie Policy and Refund & Cancellation Policy, which form part of your agreement with us. Training providers also agree to any separate written agreement they sign with us (an “SDP Agreement”); if it conflicts with these Terms, the SDP Agreement prevails for that provider.

Changes. We may update these Terms. The version date is shown at the top of this page. If a change is material we will tell you by email or in the Platform before it takes effect, and where the law requires it we will ask you to accept the new version. If you keep using SD-LINK after the effective date, you accept the updated Terms.

2. Key terms

• Learner — a person who uses the Platform to find, apply for, take or pay for a course.
• SDP (skills development provider) — an organisation that has applied to and been approved by SD-LINK to list and deliver courses on the Platform.
• Facilitator — a person an SDP has invited to deliver or assess its courses.
• HR partner — an employer or recruiter that SD-LINK has approved to review applicants and run recruitment communication.
• Course — any training programme, short course, qualification, skills programme or learning content offered through the Platform.
• Setup Fee — the fee an SDP pays SD-LINK to be set up and onboarded (see “SDP setup and onboarding fee”).
• Course Fee — the price a Learner pays for a course.
• Content — course materials, videos, documents, assessments, posts, messages and anything else uploaded to or created on the Platform.

3. Accounts and roles

Who may register. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. A person under 18 may take part only through a programme run by an SDP and with the consent of a parent or legal guardian (see the “Children” section of our Privacy Notice).

Roles. Your account has one role, and what you can do depends on it:

• Learners browse courses, apply, enrol, pay, learn, take assessments, join the community forum and receive certificates.
• SDPs manage their organisation profile, team, courses, learners, assessments, sessions and certificates.
• Facilitators work inside an SDP’s workspace and can do only what that SDP allows.
• HR partners review applicants for opportunities they publish and communicate with them.
• Administrators are SD-LINK staff who approve providers, support users and keep the Platform safe.

Your responsibilities. You agree to:

• give accurate, complete and current information (including your own ID number where we ask for it) and keep it up to date;
• keep your password and sign-in codes confidential, and not share or transfer your account — you are responsible for everything done through it;
• tell us promptly if you suspect unauthorised access to your account; and
• hold only one account per person.

Accounts created for you. An SDP or administrator may create an account for you (for example by importing a class list or sending a signup link). If you sign in to or use such an account you accept these Terms.

Verification. We may ask for documents to verify your identity, qualifications or (for SDPs) accreditation, and may decline, suspend or close an account if we cannot verify it.

4. How SD-LINK works — our role

SD-LINK provides the technology that connects learners with training providers. Unless a course page expressly says otherwise, the SDP — not SD-LINK — designs, presents, delivers and assesses the course, sets its content, price, entry requirements and schedule, and issues the learner’s results and certificate. Your agreement to take a course is with that SDP.

Accreditation. SD-LINK does not itself accredit providers or courses. Accreditation, registration and recognition are granted by bodies such as the QCTO, SETAs and SAQA. We ask SDPs to give us accurate accreditation details and we may check them, but we do not guarantee them. Before you pay, check the provider’s accreditation with the relevant body if recognition matters to you.

AI tools and suggestions. Features such as the AI career advisor and AI-assisted applicant ranking give suggestions only. They can be wrong or incomplete, are not professional, career, legal or financial advice, and do not promise any course place, job or income. Check the facts on the course page and with the provider before you rely on them.

5. Training provider (SDP) obligations

If you register an SDP, you confirm, promise and agree that:

1. Accreditation is accurate. Every accreditation number, QCTO/SETA/SAQA registration, NQF level, credit value, scope and expiry date you give us or publish on the Platform is true, current and verifiable. You will tell us immediately if any accreditation lapses, is suspended, withdrawn or narrowed, and you will not advertise or issue certificates for anything outside your accredited scope. We may verify your details with the issuing body and may suspend your courses or account while we do.
2. Course information is accurate and not misleading. Titles, outcomes, duration, delivery mode, entry requirements, schedule, price (in rand, including VAT where applicable) and refund terms must be correct. You will not promise jobs, income or guaranteed outcomes you cannot lawfully guarantee.
3. You deliver what you advertise with reasonable care and skill, using suitably qualified facilitators and assessors, and you keep the learner records and evidence that the Skills Development Act, SETA and QCTO rules require.
4. You follow the law that applies to you, including skills-development, NQF, consumer-protection, electronic communications, tax and data-protection legislation.
5. You protect learner information. For personal information you receive about learners — through signup links, imports, applications or enrolments — you are a responsible party in your own right under POPIA. Use it only to deliver and administer the training and meet your legal duties, keep it secure, do not use it for unrelated marketing without consent, and tell us without delay about any breach affecting learners. When you upload or import people, you confirm you are entitled to share their details with us.
6. You answer for your team. You are responsible for what your facilitators and staff do on the Platform, and must remove access when someone leaves.
7. Certificates are earned. You will issue a certificate only to a learner who genuinely met the requirements, and the details on it will be accurate.
8. You honour refunds as set out in your course terms and in our Refund & Cancellation Policy.
9. You own or may use your content and it does not infringe anyone’s rights.

We may remove content, suspend courses or close an SDP account that breaches this section, and learners already enrolled will be dealt with under the Refund & Cancellation Policy.

6. SDP setup and onboarding fee

To use the provider features of SD-LINK, an SDP pays a Setup Fee. The amount (and any tiers) is the amount shown to you when you register, in your SDP Agreement, or otherwise notified to you in writing before you pay.

• What it covers. Verifying and onboarding your organisation, configuring your workspace, and access to the Platform’s provider features as described when you pay. It is not a commission and does not guarantee enrolments or revenue.
• When features unlock. Until we have confirmed that your Setup Fee has been paid and your organisation is approved, some features — for example inviting learners with signup links — stay unavailable.
• How you pay. By Paystack or another method we offer (for example, EFT). We confirm payment on the Platform; we may record a payment reference against your organisation.
• Tax. Amounts include VAT where we are VAT registered, unless we say otherwise.
• Refunds. The Setup Fee is non-refundable except as set out in the Refund & Cancellation Policy (for example, if we decline or never activate your application) or where the law requires a refund.
• Other charges. Any transaction fee or commission on Course Fees is the one stated in your SDP Agreement or notified to you in advance.

7. Course purchases and payments

• Prices. Course Fees are set by the SDP, shown in South African rand and, where VAT applies, include it. The price you see before you pay is the price you pay.
• Application and approval. Some courses require you to apply first and be approved by the SDP before you can enrol and pay. You are asked to pay only once enrolment is offered.
• Paying with Paystack. Card, bank (EFT) and other payments are processed by Paystack, an independent payment service provider. SD-LINK does not see or store your full card details. Paystack’s own terms and privacy notice apply to the payment step.
• When a purchase is complete. Your enrolment is confirmed, and access to paid course content is unlocked, once payment is confirmed by Paystack (or, for bursary or sponsor-funded places, once the funding is confirmed).
• Failed or reversed payments. If a payment fails, is reversed or is disputed, we may withhold or withdraw access until it is resolved.
• Funded places. If a bursary, employer or other funder pays, the funder’s rules apply as well, and we may confirm your enrolment and progress to them where you have agreed.
• Receipts. We (or the SDP) make a receipt or tax invoice available for each payment. Keep it as your proof of purchase.
• Mistakes. If a price is clearly wrong because of an error, we or the SDP may correct it and give you the choice to proceed at the correct price or cancel with a full refund.
• Refunds and cancellation. See our Refund & Cancellation Policy.

8. Intellectual property and content

Our Platform. The SD-LINK software, design, logos, trade marks and the way the Platform is put together belong to us or our licensors. We give you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the Platform as these Terms allow.

Course content. SDPs and facilitators (or their licensors) own the course materials they create. Learners get a personal, non-commercial, non-transferable licence to use the content of courses they are enrolled in, for their own learning only. You may not copy, record, redistribute, resell or publish course content without the owner’s written permission.

Content you upload. You keep ownership of what you upload or post. You give SD-LINK (and, for course content, the SDP and learners enrolled) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, display, reproduce and deliver it as needed to run the Platform. You promise you have the rights to do this and that your content does not infringe anyone’s rights or break the law.

Infringement. If you believe content on the Platform infringes your rights, email {{SUPPORT_EMAIL}} with the details and we will investigate and, where appropriate, remove it.

9. Acceptable use

You agree that you will not:

• break any law or encourage anyone else to;
• give false information, impersonate anyone, or upload forged or altered identity, qualification or accreditation documents;
• share your login, or use someone else’s account or certificate;
• cheat in assessments, including by having someone else sit them or by sharing answers;
• harass, threaten, discriminate against or abuse anyone, or post hateful, obscene, defamatory or unlawful material, in the forum, live sessions, messages or anywhere else;
• record, screenshot or distribute live sessions or course content without permission from the host and participants;
• send spam, or use the Platform to promote products or services unrelated to learning without our permission;
• scrape, harvest or bulk-download data, or use bots or automated tools to access the Platform, except as we expressly allow;
• probe, scan or test the Platform’s security, interfere with it, overload it, or upload malicious code;
• try to avoid paying fees or bypass the Platform to deal with learners or providers you met through it in order to avoid SD-LINK fees that are due; or
• use another person’s personal information from the Platform for any purpose other than the one it was shared for.

We may remove content and restrict or end access if we reasonably believe you have broken this section.

10. Community forum, sessions and messages

The community forum, live sessions and messaging are for learning and professional discussion. What you post may be seen by other learners, the course’s SDP and facilitators, and SD-LINK administrators. Keep personal information (yours and other people’s) out of public posts.

SDPs, facilitators and SD-LINK moderators may remove posts and remove people from a space to keep it safe and on-topic. If you believe something was removed in error, contact us.

11. Certificates and verification

• Who issues them. Certificates are issued through the Platform by the SDP (or by us on its behalf) after a learner has completed the course and met its assessment requirements.
• Public verification. Each certificate has a credential ID. Anyone who has that ID can use the public Verify a certificate page to confirm it is genuine. The page shows the learner’s name, the programme, NQF level, the provider and the issue date. Do not share your credential ID with people you do not want to see these details.
• Name on the certificate. Once a certificate has been issued, the learner’s name cannot be changed in the Platform. If it is wrong, contact the SDP or {{SUPPORT_EMAIL}} with supporting documents.
• Recognition. A certificate reflects what the SDP has certified. Whether an employer, SETA, QCTO or another body recognises it depends on the SDP’s accreditation and the course itself; SD-LINK does not guarantee recognition.
• Misuse and revocation. A certificate obtained by fraud or issued in error may be corrected, suspended or revoked, and will then show as not valid when verified.

12. Third-party services and links

The Platform relies on third-party services (for example Paystack for payments and Amazon Web Services for hosting, sign-in and email) and may link to websites, bursaries or meeting tools run by others. We are not responsible for third parties’ content or practices, and their own terms apply when you use them. Where an SDP gives a link to external material or a meeting, check it before you click.

13. Availability and changes to the Platform

We work to keep SD-LINK available and secure, but we do not promise it will be uninterrupted or error-free. We may carry out maintenance, change or remove features, or suspend access where we need to (for example for security). Where we can, we will give notice of planned downtime.

14. Disclaimers and limits on liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any right you have under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (“CPA”) or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded, or any liability we cannot lawfully exclude (for example, for our gross negligence or fraud).

Subject to that, and to the extent the law allows:

• the Platform is provided “as is”; we do not give warranties about courses or their outcomes, which are the responsibility of the SDP that offers them;
• SD-LINK is not responsible for an SDP’s courses, facilitators, assessments, certificates or conduct, or for whether a course leads to employment, income or recognition;
• SD-LINK is not liable for indirect, consequential or special loss, or for loss of profit, opportunity, data or goodwill; and
• our total liability to you for any claim connected with the Platform is limited to the amount you paid to SD-LINK in the 12 months before the event that gave rise to the claim.

15. Your responsibility for what you do

If you are an SDP, facilitator or HR partner (a business user), you agree to compensate SD-LINK for losses, claims and reasonable legal costs that result from your breach of these Terms, your content, or your courses, to the extent the law allows. Learners acting as consumers are liable only as the law provides.

16. Suspension and termination

By you. You may stop using SD-LINK and ask us to close your account at any time by contacting {{SUPPORT_EMAIL}}. Closing your account does not cancel amounts already due, and we may have to keep some records (see the Privacy Notice).

By us. We may suspend or end your access, remove content, or close your account if you breach these Terms, if we must by law, if we cannot verify your information, if your accreditation lapses, or if your use puts the Platform or other people at risk. We will usually tell you why, unless the law or security prevents it.

Learners when a provider leaves. If an SDP’s account is suspended or closed, enrolled learners will be told what happens to their course, progress and any refund due, as set out in the Refund & Cancellation Policy.

Sections that by their nature should survive termination (such as intellectual property, liability, and governing law) continue to apply.

17. Privacy and communications

How we handle personal information is explained in our Privacy Notice. By accepting these Terms you also confirm that you have read it.

We will send you service messages (for example account, payment, enrolment, session and certificate notices) by email and in the Platform. We send marketing messages only if you have opted in, and you can opt out at any time.

18. Electronic transactions and consumer information

Supplier information (Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, section 43):

Electronic agreements. You agree that these Terms and any other agreement, notice or record between us may be made, accepted and kept electronically, and that clicking “I accept” (or similar) is your electronic signature and acceptance. We will keep a record of transactions made through the Platform.

Your right to cancel. You may have a statutory right to cancel an online purchase within seven days. See the Refund & Cancellation Policy for how this works for courses.

Consumer rights. Where you are a consumer under the CPA, nothing in these Terms limits your rights under that Act. The CPA does not apply to a transaction with a juristic person (such as a company) whose asset value or annual turnover is at or above the threshold set by the Minister (currently R2 million).

Complaints. Tell us first at {{SUPPORT_EMAIL}} and we will try to put things right. You may also approach the National Consumer Commission or, for privacy complaints, the Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za).

19. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. If we have a dispute, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it informally. If that does not work, the parties may agree to mediation; otherwise the courts of South Africa have jurisdiction. This does not take away a consumer’s right to approach the National Consumer Commission, a consumer court or another forum the CPA provides.

20. General

• Whole agreement. These Terms, the policies they refer to, and any SDP Agreement are the whole agreement between us about the Platform.
• If a part is invalid. If a provision is found unlawful or unenforceable, the rest still applies.
• No waiver. If we do not enforce a right straight away, we have not given it up.
• Transfer. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms. We may transfer ours to a successor of the business.
• Events beyond our control. We are not liable for delay or failure caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as power or network failure or acts of third-party providers.
• Notices. We may give you notice by email to the address on your account or in the Platform. You may give us notice at the contact details below.
• Language. These Terms are in English.

21. Contact us

Questions about these Terms? Email {{SUPPORT_EMAIL}}, phone {{SUPPORT_PHONE}}, or write to {{COMPANY_REGISTERED_NAME}}, {{PHYSICAL_ADDRESS}}.