Privacy Policy

Self Sustain SA (selfsustain.co.za) Last updated: March 2026

Who We Are

Self Sustain SA is a South African content website focused on practical self-sufficiency for South Africans. Our website address is https://selfsustain.co.za. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you visit our website, in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) of South Africa.

What Personal Information We Collect and Why

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, along with the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection. An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to check whether you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture may be visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Contact Forms

If you contact us through a contact form on the site, we collect your name, email address, and the content of your message. This information is used solely to respond to your enquiry and is not shared with any third party. We retain contact form submissions for a period of 12 months for customer service purposes and then delete them.

Email Subscriptions

If you subscribe to our email newsletter, we collect your email address and, optionally, your first name. We use this information only to send you the content you have subscribed to. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link included in every email. We will never sell, rent, or share your email address with any third party.

Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site, you may opt in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies last for one year.

If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me,” your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

Analytics

We may use third-party analytics services (such as Google Analytics) to understand how visitors use our site. These services collect information such as how often you visit the site, which pages you view, and what other sites you visited before coming to our site. We use this information only to improve our website content and user experience. Analytics data is collected in an aggregated and anonymised form. You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

Advertising

We may display third-party advertisements on our site through advertising networks. These networks may use cookies and similar technologies to serve advertisements based on your prior visits to this and other websites. You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting the relevant advertising network’s opt-out page or by adjusting your browser’s cookie settings.

Embedded Content From Other Websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (such as videos, images, or articles). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor had visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your personal information to third parties. The only exceptions are trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our website (such as our web hosting provider and email service provider), provided that those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law or protect the rights, property, or safety of ourselves or others.

How Long We Retain Your Data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognise and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

Contact form submissions are retained for 12 months. Email subscription data is retained for as long as you remain subscribed.

What Rights You Have Over Your Data

Under POPIA, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:

You have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you. You have the right to request correction of any inaccurate or incomplete personal data. You have the right to request deletion of your personal data, subject to any legal obligations we may have to retain certain information. You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data. You have the right to withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data at any time.

If you have an account on this site or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided below.

Where Your Data Is Sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service. Analytics data may be processed by third-party services (such as Google) whose servers may be located outside of South Africa. Where personal data is transferred outside of South Africa, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with POPIA.

How We Protect Your Data

We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information. Our website uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption to protect data transmitted between your browser and our server. Access to personal information is restricted to authorised individuals only.

Children’s Privacy

Our website is not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child without parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. We encourage you to review this privacy policy periodically for any changes.

Information Regulator (South Africa)

If you believe that we have not adequately addressed your concerns regarding your personal information, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa:

Information Regulator (South Africa) JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001 P.O. Box 31533, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2017 Email: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za Website: https://inforegulator.org.za

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or wish to exercise your rights under POPIA, please contact us at:

Self Sustain SA Email: [contact@selfsustain.co.za]