Legal

Terms & Conditions

These Terms & Conditions ("Terms") govern access to and use of the Know a Pro website, platform, profiles and related services. Know a Pro is operated by KNOWPRO SA (PTY) LTD, registration number 2024/504159/07, a private company registered in the Republic of South Africa and trading as Know a Pro ("Know a Pro", "we", "us" or "our").

By creating an account, purchasing a subscription, submitting information or using a feature that requires acceptance of these Terms, you agree to these Terms and acknowledge the policies linked to them. If you do not agree, do not create an account or use the relevant paid or account-based services.

1. About Know a Pro

Know a Pro is an online directory and profile platform designed to help customers in South Africa discover and connect with independent service professionals and registered businesses.

We provide professionals and businesses with tools that may include public profiles, service and location information, verification badges, customer enquiries, reviews, QR codes, profile links and other directory or marketing features.

Know a Pro is not the employer, agent, partner or representative of professionals or businesses listed on the platform and, unless we expressly state otherwise for a particular service, is not a party to the agreement between a customer and a professional or business found through the platform.

2. Account types

Independent Pro. An Independent Pro account is intended for individuals, sole traders and independent service providers. Independent Pros are not required to operate through a CIPC-registered company.

Registered Business. A Registered Business account is intended for businesses registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC). Registered Businesses may be required to provide CIPC registration information or supporting documents.

Know a Pro may introduce, change or discontinue account types or features as the platform develops. Any material change affecting a paid subscription will be handled in accordance with applicable law and these Terms.

3. Launch eligibility and account registration

At launch, the professional onboarding flow is available to applicants who can complete the supported South African identity-verification process. Foreign-national/passport onboarding may be added later once the applicable verification process and documentation requirements are supported.

You must provide accurate, complete and current information when creating and maintaining an account.

Do not impersonate another person or business.

Do not create an account using information you are not authorised to use.

Do not provide false, misleading or materially incomplete information.

Do not falsify qualifications, registrations, licences, CIPC information or supporting documents.

Do not attempt to bypass Know a Pro's verification or security procedures.

You are responsible for protecting your login credentials and for activity conducted through your account. Notify Know a Pro promptly if you believe your account has been accessed without permission.

4. Verification

Identity verification. Professionals must complete the identity verification required by the live onboarding flow before a professional profile can go live. The launch flow uses a supported South African ID and live-photo/selfie verification through an approved third-party verification provider.

Business verification. Registered Businesses may additionally be required to provide CIPC registration information or supporting documents so that relevant business details can be checked.

Additional verification. Optional checks, such as HURU-related background checks, qualifications, licences, certificates or other credentials, may be offered after initial signup or added later.

What a badge means. A verification badge confirms only that the specific check described by that badge was completed successfully based on the information and checks available at the relevant time. A badge does not mean that Know a Pro guarantees, endorses or certifies a professional's or business's quality, workmanship, safety, reliability, honesty, suitability or future conduct.

Know a Pro may remove, suspend or change a badge where information becomes outdated, inaccurate, unverifiable or where we reasonably believe the badge is no longer appropriate.

5. Professional and business profiles

Professionals and businesses are responsible for ensuring that information displayed on their profiles remains accurate, current and lawful.

Names and trading names;
business and CIPC information;
service categories, descriptions and service areas;
public contact information, phone and WhatsApp details;
profile photographs, logos and portfolio work;
qualifications, certificates, licences and supporting documents where offered;
social and website links;
reviews and ratings; and
other content or information made available through the platform.

You must have the necessary rights and permissions to upload and display any content you provide. Do not upload another person's private information, images or work without an appropriate right or permission.

Where the platform allows a professional to control full-address visibility, a user may choose not to show a full street address publicly while allowing location or service-area information to be used for search and directory functionality.

6. Profile publication

There is no separate manual publication step for the standard launch flow. A professional profile is intended to go live automatically once the required identity verification has been completed successfully and the applicable subscription payment is successful, subject to any other mandatory profile requirements shown on the platform.

Know a Pro may delay, restrict or prevent publication where required information is missing, verification has failed, payment is incomplete, a profile appears unlawful or misleading, or publication would create a legitimate security, compliance or platform-integrity concern.

7. Subscriptions and fees

Professional listings are offered on a paid subscription basis unless otherwise stated. At launch, the monthly plans are:

Independent Pro: R300 per month.
Registered Business: R500 per month.

The current price and included features will be displayed before payment. By purchasing a subscription, you authorise Know a Pro and Paystack, our payment provider, to process the applicable subscription charges.

Subscriptions are billed according to the billing period shown during checkout. At launch, the standard subscriptions are monthly.

Know a Pro may change prices or included features from time to time. Where a change materially affects an existing paid subscription, we will provide reasonable notice where required by applicable law.

8. Renewal, failed payments and cancellation

Monthly subscriptions continue until cancelled through the cancellation method made available by Know a Pro or by contacting support where applicable.

A cancellation ordinarily takes effect at the end of the current paid billing period, so the subscriber may continue using the paid listing until that date, subject to applicable South African law.

When cancellation becomes effective, the professional profile may be hidden from public view until a new subscription is successfully activated.

If a recurring subscription payment fails, a 24-hour grace period applies. If payment has not been successfully resolved by the end of that grace period, the paid profile will stop being publicly served until payment is successfully made or the subscription is otherwise restored. Payment retries and payment processing are handled through the live Paystack billing implementation.

Nothing in these Terms removes cancellation or other rights that cannot lawfully be excluded under the Consumer Protection Act or other applicable South African law.

9. Refunds

Fees already paid are generally not refundable merely because a subscriber changes their mind or no longer wishes to use the platform, subject always to rights available under applicable South African law.

If Know a Pro incorrectly charges an account, processes a charge that was not authorised, fails to provide a paid service in circumstances where a refund is legally required, or is otherwise required by law to refund an amount, Know a Pro will process the appropriate refund.

Refund requests may be sent to accounts@knowapro.co.za or support@knowapro.co.za.

10. Customer access and enquiries

Customers may browse profiles, compare available information and contact professionals and businesses using the contact options made available through the platform. Finding, viewing and contacting professionals is free for customers unless a future feature is expressly stated otherwise.

An enquiry does not guarantee that a professional will accept a job, be available, offer a particular price, respond within a particular period or enter into an agreement.

Professionals are responsible for responding to enquiries and communicating their own pricing, availability, service terms and any other requirements. Know a Pro does not guarantee any minimum number of views, leads, enquiries, customers, bookings or revenue.

11. Agreements between customers and professionals

Where a customer hires or engages a professional or business found through Know a Pro, the underlying service agreement is generally between the customer and that professional or business.

Unless Know a Pro expressly states otherwise for a particular service, Know a Pro does not set the professional's price, provide the professional's service, employ the professional, supervise the work, guarantee completion, guarantee workmanship or collect payment for the underlying job.

Customers should obtain whatever quotes, information, references, licences, insurance details or other documentation they consider appropriate before appointing a professional. Professionals remain responsible for complying with laws, regulations, registrations, licences and professional requirements that apply to the services they provide.

12. Reviews and private feedback

Know a Pro may allow customers to submit reviews, ratings and private feedback about professionals and businesses.

Reviews must reflect genuine experiences and must not be fabricated, purchased, manipulated or submitted for the purpose of misleading other users. Professionals may request reviews from genuine customers.

Know a Pro may moderate, investigate, restrict or remove reviews or related content that reasonably appears fraudulent, abusive, unlawful, irrelevant, manipulated or inconsistent with our Review Policy / Community Guidelines.

A professional may report a review for investigation but does not automatically have the right to remove a review merely because it is negative. Private feedback, where offered, is not intended to be published as a public review.

The Review Policy / Community Guidelines forms part of the rules governing review use on the platform.

13. Search results, ranking and placement

Profiles may appear in search results, categories, recommendations or other areas of the platform. Search order and placement may be influenced by factors such as relevance, category, location or service area, rating and review information, profile completeness, verification information, recency or other platform criteria as these features develop.

Know a Pro does not guarantee any particular search position, ranking, number of profile views, leads or enquiries. Search and ranking methods may change as the platform is improved.

14. Acceptable use

You may not use Know a Pro to:

commit fraud or unlawful activity;
impersonate another person or misrepresent a business;
misrepresent qualifications, licences, registrations or verification status;
submit fraudulent or altered documents;
manipulate reviews or ratings;
harass, threaten, abuse or unlawfully discriminate against another user;
distribute malicious software or attempt to compromise platform security;
scrape or systematically extract platform data without permission;
misuse customer or professional contact information;
infringe intellectual-property, privacy or other rights; or
advertise or provide services that are unlawful in South Africa.

Know a Pro may take proportionate action where misuse is suspected.

15. Suspension, restriction and removal

Know a Pro may restrict, suspend, unpublish or remove an account, profile, badge or content where we reasonably believe that:

information is false, misleading or materially incomplete;
required verification has failed or become unreliable;
fraudulent documents or information have been supplied;
subscription fees remain unpaid;
reviews or ratings have been manipulated;
another person's rights have been infringed;
these Terms or another Know a Pro policy has been materially breached;
continued access presents a legitimate security, fraud or platform-integrity risk; or
restriction or removal is required by law or a competent authority.

Where reasonably appropriate, we may allow the affected user to correct an issue or provide further information. Serious fraud, unlawful conduct, security risks or urgent legal concerns may result in immediate action.

16. User content

You retain ownership of content you submit to Know a Pro where you otherwise own that content.

By uploading content intended for public display, you grant Know a Pro a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, reproduce, resize, format and display that content as reasonably necessary to operate, promote and improve your Know a Pro profile and the platform. You confirm that you have the right to provide that content.

This licence ends when the content is removed from the platform, except where limited retention remains reasonably necessary for legal, security, backup, complaint, moderation or dispute purposes.

17. Know a Pro intellectual property

The Know a Pro website, software, branding, logos, designs, original content and platform functionality belong to KNOWPRO SA (PTY) LTD or its licensors and are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws.

Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of Know a Pro intellectual property to a user. Users may not copy, reproduce or commercially exploit Know a Pro intellectual property without permission except where permitted by law.

18. Privacy and personal information

Know a Pro processes personal information in accordance with applicable South African data-protection law and our Privacy Policy.

The Privacy Policy explains the categories of information we process, why we process it, verification and payment providers, hosting and security, sharing, cross-border processing, retention, cookies and analytics, and users' rights.

Acceptance of these Terms does not replace any consent or other lawful basis required for processing personal information.

19. Third-party services

Know a Pro may use third-party providers for identity verification, business verification, payment processing, email delivery, hosting, analytics, advertising measurement and other platform functionality.

Those providers may have their own terms and privacy practices. Where relevant, their role and processing of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

20. Platform availability and changes

Know a Pro aims to keep the platform available and functioning reliably, but does not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free availability.

We may temporarily restrict access for maintenance, security, upgrades, provider outages or circumstances beyond our reasonable control. Features may be added, improved, changed or discontinued as the platform develops.

We will not use this clause to remove statutory consumer rights or avoid obligations that cannot lawfully be excluded.

21. Important limitation of Know a Pro's role

Know a Pro performs or facilitates the verification checks specifically described on the platform but does not independently supervise or control the services performed by listed professionals or businesses.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, Know a Pro is not responsible for losses arising solely from the acts, omissions, workmanship, pricing, delays or contractual obligations of an independent professional or business.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where doing so is prohibited by South African law, and nothing removes rights that a consumer has under applicable consumer-protection legislation.

22. Complaints and disputes

If you have a complaint concerning Know a Pro, a profile, review, payment, verification or platform interaction, contact support@knowapro.co.za. Billing matters may also be sent to accounts@knowapro.co.za and verification-related matters to verify@knowapro.co.za.

We encourage users to contact us first so that we can investigate and respond. Nothing in these Terms prevents a person from exercising a statutory right or approaching an appropriate regulator, ombud, tribunal or court where legally entitled to do so.

23. Electronic communications

By creating an account and using Know a Pro, you agree that communications relating to your account, subscription, verification, security, service changes and use of the platform may be provided electronically.

Marketing communications are handled separately and are subject to applicable law and user preferences.

24. Links and external websites

Profiles may contain links to professional websites, social-media pages or other external services. Know a Pro does not control third-party websites and is not responsible for their availability, content, security or privacy practices. Users access external services at their own discretion.

25. Changes to these Terms

Know a Pro may update these Terms when the platform, services, provider arrangements or legal requirements change. The current version and effective date will be published on the website.

Where a material change affects an existing paid subscription or a user's rights in a significant way, Know a Pro will provide appropriate notice where required by law.

26. Governing law

These Terms and use of Know a Pro are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa.

Disputes will be dealt with in accordance with applicable South African law and the jurisdiction of the appropriate South African courts or other competent dispute-resolution bodies.

27. Severability and waiver

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply to the extent permitted by law.

A failure by Know a Pro to enforce a provision immediately does not automatically constitute a waiver of that provision.

These Terms, together with policies expressly incorporated into them and any plan-specific terms displayed at checkout, constitute the agreement governing use of the relevant Know a Pro services.

The following policies should be read with these Terms where applicable: Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Review Policy / Community Guidelines and PAIA Manual.

29. Contact information

KNOWPRO SA (PTY) LTD

Trading as Know a Pro

Registration number: 2024/504159/07

Website: https://knowapro.co.za

General support: support@knowapro.co.za

Billing: accounts@knowapro.co.za

Verification: verify@knowapro.co.za

Business telephone: +27 82 055 9229

Business / physical address: 184 Upper Buitenkant Street, Oranjezicht, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa