Privacy Policy: Port St Johns Golf Club

Effective Date: 1 July 2026
Version 2.0

1. Who We Are

Port St Johns Golf Club ("PSJ Golf Club", "we", "us", "our") is a trading name of GOLFERSCARDINTL (Pty) Ltd, a private company registered in South Africa with registration number 2023/538800/07 and registered address at [insert registered address]. We are the responsible party under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) for the personal information we collect and process.

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your information, contact us at:

  • Email: ben@golferscard.co.za

  • Phone: +27828915171

  • Address: 380 Golf Course Drive, Port St Johns, 5120, South Africa

  • Information Officer: Ben Pols

2. What Personal Information We Collect

When you use our website, join as a member, or sponsor our junior golf programme, we may collect:

  • Full name and title (Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss/Dr/Other)

  • Email address

  • Contact telephone number

  • Billing and payment information (processed by PayFast — we do not store credit card details)

  • Membership application details

  • Any other information you voluntarily provide (e.g., messages, notes, dedications)

  • Technical information automatically collected via cookies (see Section 8)

3. How We Collect Your Information

  • Directly from you — when you complete the sponsorship form, membership application, or contact form

  • Automatically — via cookies and similar technologies when you browse our website

  • From third parties — PayFast (payment processing), EmailOctopus (email marketing if you opt in)

4. Purpose of Collection

We collect and process your personal information for the following purposes:

  • Processing sponsorship/donation payments for the Young Golfers in Africa programme

  • Sending you a confirmation of your sponsorship

  • Managing your membership (if applicable)

  • Sending club news, updates and offers — only if you have explicitly opted in

  • Complying with legal and regulatory obligations (record-keeping, tax)

  • Improving our website and services

5. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal information on the following legal bases:

  • Consent — where you have given us explicit consent (e.g., marketing emails)

  • Performance of a contract — to process your sponsorship or membership

  • Legal obligation — to comply with applicable laws (e.g., Companies Act record-keeping)

  • Legitimate interest — to improve our services and communicate with our supporters

6. Voluntary or Mandatory Provision

Providing your personal information is voluntary. However, if you do not provide the required information (marked with *), we may not be able to process your sponsorship, membership, or enquiry.

7. Recipients of Your Information

We may share your information with:

  • PayFast (Pty) Ltd — payment processing for sponsorship transactions

  • EmailOctopus — email communication platform (for those who opt in to marketing)

  • Google reCAPTCHA — website security and spam prevention

  • Squarespace — website hosting and analytics

  • Law enforcement, regulators, or courts — where required by law

8. Cookies

8.1 What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They help the site work properly, remember your preferences, and show us how people use the site so we can improve it.

8.2 How we use cookies

We use three types of cookies:

  • Essential cookies — These keep the website working securely. They are always on and don't need your consent.

  • Analytics cookies — These help us see which pages are popular and how visitors find us. They only switch on if you accept them.

  • Marketing cookies — These are used if you sign up for our email newsletter. They only switch on if you opt in.

8.3 Third-party cookies

Some services we use (Squarespace, Google reCAPTCHA, PayFast, and EmailOctopus) may place their own cookies. These are covered in our Privacy Policy above.

8.4 Managing cookies

When you first visit our site, a banner lets you Accept All, Decline All, or Manage your preferences. You can also change your cookie settings anytime by clicking the "Manage Cookies" link in the website footer, or through your browser settings.

9. International Transfers

Your personal information is primarily processed within South Africa. PayFast and EmailOctopus may store data on servers located outside South Africa. Where this occurs, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with Section 72 of POPIA.

10. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against loss, theft, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. These include:

  • SSL/TLS encryption on our website

  • Secure payment processing via PayFast (PCI-DSS compliant)

  • Restricted access to personal information on a need-to-know basis

  • Regular security reviews and updates

11. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by applicable law (e.g., the Companies Act requires records to be kept for 7 years). After this period, we will securely delete or anonymise your information.

12. Your Rights

Under POPIA, you have the following rights:

  • The right to be informed about how your information is collected and used

  • The right to access your personal information held by us

  • The right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information

  • The right to request destruction of your information (subject to legal requirements)

  • The right to object to the processing of your personal information

  • The right to withdraw consent at any time (where processing is based on consent)

  • The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator

13. How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise any of your rights, contact our Information Officer Ben Pols at ben@golferscard.co.za or 380 Golf Course Drive, Port St Johns, 5120, South Africa. We will respond to your request within 30 days as required by POPIA.

14. Information Regulator

If you are not satisfied with our response to a data protection query, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator:

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on our website at /privacy-policy. We will notify you of material changes by email or a prominent notice on our website.