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Privacy Policy

Tshehetso Development Projects

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Effective date: 08 July 2026

Last updated: 08 July 2026

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1. Introduction

Tshehetso Development Projects respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.

Tshehetso is a digital inclusion and social impact organisation focused on youth development, healthcare access and cyber safety. Working across the Free State, Gauteng townships and Northern Cape, Tshehetso helps young people and underserved communities access digital skills, online opportunities, trusted healthcare information, digital health literacy and safer online participation.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share and protect personal information when you visit our website, contact us, participate in our programmes, volunteer, donate, partner with us or engage with our digital platforms.

We process personal information in accordance with applicable South African privacy law, including the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA). POPIA aims to protect personal information processed by public and private bodies and sets minimum requirements for lawful processing.

 

2. Who this policy applies to

This Privacy Policy applies to personal information we may process about:

  • website visitors;

  • programme participants and beneficiaries;

  • learners, youth and young adults;

  • parents, guardians and caregivers;

  • volunteers and mentors;

  • donors and funders;

  • partners and service providers;

  • job applicants, contractors and staff;

  • schools, clinics, community organisations and other stakeholders who engage with us.

Where we work with children or minors, we take additional care and may require consent from a parent, guardian, caregiver, school or authorised representative where appropriate.

 

3. Personal information we may collect

Depending on how you interact with Tshehetso, we may collect the following types of personal information:

3.1 Contact information

This may include your name, surname, email address, telephone number, organisation, role, province, town or community.

3.2 Programme information

This may include programme registration details, attendance records, age group, school or organisation, education level, areas of interest, support needs, feedback forms and participation records.

3.3 Youth development information

For programmes such as Tsela Tshweu Digital Pathways, we may collect information needed to support digital literacy, career readiness, mentorship, online applications, education access and employability support.

This may include CV-related information, study interests, career interests, application support needs and contact details for follow-up.

3.4 Healthcare access information

For Digital Health Access activities, we may collect limited information needed to provide health awareness, referral support, digital health literacy or programme reporting.

We do not provide medical diagnosis or treatment. Any health-related information collected is handled carefully, confidentially and only where necessary for the relevant activity.

3.5 Cyber safety and digital trust information

For Safe Digital Futures and cyber safety programmes, we may collect information about attendance, training needs, awareness topics, incident reports, feedback and referral needs.

Where cyberbullying, online harm or safety concerns are reported, we may process relevant information to provide support, a safeguarding referral or appropriate escalation.

3.6 Donation and partner information

If you donate, sponsor or partner with us, we may collect your name, organisation, contact details, donation details, sponsorship information, payment reference and reporting preferences.

We do not intentionally store your full bank card details on our website unless processed securely through an authorised third-party payment provider.

3.7 Website and technical information

When you use our website, we may collect limited technical information such as your IP address, device type, browser type, pages visited, time spent on the site and general usage information through cookies or analytics tools.

 

4. How we collect personal information

We may collect personal information when you:

  • visit or use our website;

  • complete a contact form;

  • register for a programme, workshop or event;

  • volunteer, mentor, donate or partner with us;

  • subscribe to updates or newsletters;

  • complete surveys, feedback forms or needs assessments;

  • communicate with us by email, phone, WhatsApp, social media or in person;

  • participate in programme activities, including digital inclusion, youth development, healthcare access or cyber safety activities;

  • provide consent for photographs, videos, testimonials or impact stories.

We aim to collect information directly from you where possible. In some cases, we may receive information from a school, parent, guardian, caregiver, partner organisation, referral organisation or authorised representative.

 

5. Why we use personal information

Tshehetso may use personal information for the following purposes:

  • to respond to enquiries;

  • to register and manage programme participation;

  • to deliver digital inclusion, youth development, healthcare access and cyber safety programmes;

  • to provide support with online applications, career readiness, mentorship and referrals;

  • to manage volunteers, mentors, donors, funders and partners;

  • to communicate programme updates, opportunities and events;

  • to monitor, evaluate and report on programme impact;

  • to comply with legal, financial, tax, donor and governance requirements;

  • to protect beneficiaries, children, volunteers, staff and stakeholders;

  • to investigate or respond to complaints, incidents, cyber safety concerns or safeguarding issues;

  • to improve our website, services, content and programme design;

  • to prevent fraud, misuse, security incidents or unlawful activity.

 

6. Lawful basis for processing

We process personal information only where we have a lawful basis to do so. This may include:

  • your consent;

  • the consent of a parent, guardian or authorised representative where required;

  • performance of a programme, service, agreement or engagement with you;

  • compliance with a legal obligation;

  • protection of legitimate interests, including safeguarding, programme administration, donor reporting and organisational governance;

  • protection of a person’s safety or wellbeing where appropriate and lawful.

We will not use your personal information for purposes that are incompatible with the purpose for which it was collected, unless permitted by law or with your consent.

 

7. Children and minors

Tshehetso works with young people, including learners and youth. We take the privacy and safety of children seriously.

Where we collect personal information about children, we will take reasonable steps to:

  • obtain appropriate consent where required;

  • collect only information necessary for the programme or activity;

  • protect children’s information from misuse, loss or unauthorised access;

  • limit sharing of children’s information to authorised persons or organisations;

  • obtain consent before using photographs, videos, names or stories for public communication, unless otherwise lawfully permitted;

  • follow safeguarding and child protection procedures where a child may be at risk.

 

8. Health-related information

Tshehetso may run health awareness, digital health literacy, referral support and community health information activities.

We may collect limited health-related information only where necessary for a specific activity, referral, safeguarding concern or programme report.

Tshehetso does not provide medical diagnosis, treatment or professional medical advice. Health-related information provided through our programmes is for awareness, education, referral and support purposes only. Participants should consult qualified healthcare professionals for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

We will treat health-related information as sensitive and confidential.

 

9. Cyber safety, digital trust and online harm

Tshehetso promotes cyber safety and digital trust through practical awareness on scams, cyberbullying, privacy, misinformation and responsible digital behaviour.

If a participant reports online harm, cyberbullying, harassment, exploitation, abuse, fraud or another safety concern, we may collect and process relevant information to:

  • understand the concern;

  • provide guidance or referral;

  • escalate the matter to a parent, guardian, school, partner organisation, professional service or relevant authority where appropriate;

  • protect the safety and wellbeing of the person affected;

  • maintain records required for safeguarding and accountability.

We will handle such information carefully and only share it where necessary, lawful and appropriate.

 

10. Sharing of personal information

We do not sell personal information.

We may share personal information only where necessary and appropriate with:

  • authorised Tshehetso staff, Board members, volunteers or programme facilitators;

  • schools, parents, guardians or caregivers where relevant;

  • healthcare providers, clinics, counsellors, referral organisations or support services where appropriate;

  • ICT service providers, website hosts, cloud platforms, email providers or analytics providers;

  • donors, funders or partners for reporting, usually in aggregated or anonymised form where possible;

  • auditors, accountants, legal advisers or compliance advisers;

  • government authorities, regulators, law enforcement or courts where required by law;

  • emergency or safeguarding contacts where there is a serious risk of harm.

Any service provider or partner that processes personal information on our behalf should be required to handle that information securely and only for authorised purposes.

 

11. Donor and fundraising information

If you donate or support Tshehetso, we may process your information to:

  • record your donation;

  • issue acknowledgements or receipts;

  • communicate programme updates;

  • report on the use of funds;

  • comply with accounting, tax and governance requirements;

  • manage donor relationships.

We may publicly acknowledge donors or sponsors only where appropriate and with the relevant consent or agreement.

 

12. Photographs, videos and testimonials

Tshehetso may take photographs, videos or collect stories during programmes, workshops and events for reporting, awareness, fundraising and communication purposes.

Where identifiable individuals appear in photographs, videos or testimonials, we will seek appropriate consent where required, especially where children are involved.

You may withdraw consent for future use of your image or story, subject to reasonable limitations where content has already been published, distributed or reported.

 

13. Website cookies and analytics

Our website may use cookies or similar technologies to improve user experience, understand visitor behaviour and improve our content.

Cookies may help us understand which pages are visited, how users navigate the site and how we can improve the website.

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Some website features may not work properly if cookies are disabled.

 

14. How we protect personal information

Tshehetso takes reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction.

These measures may include:

  • access controls;

  • password protection;

  • secure storage of records;

  • limited access to beneficiary and health-related information;

  • confidentiality obligations for staff, volunteers and partners;

  • secure handling of electronic files;

  • careful management of photographs and media;

  • incident response and safeguarding escalation procedures;

  • regular review of privacy and data protection practices.

No system is completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to reduce risk and protect the information entrusted to us.

 

15. Retention of personal information

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law, donor requirements, financial reporting, safeguarding obligations or legitimate organisational needs.

When information is no longer needed, we will take reasonable steps to delete, destroy, de-identify or securely archive it.

 

16. Your privacy rights

Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to:

  • ask what personal information we hold about you;

  • request access to your personal information;

  • request correction or updating of inaccurate information;

  • request deletion or restriction of information where legally appropriate;

  • object to certain processing;

  • withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;

  • complain to Tshehetso about privacy concerns;

  • lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.

The Information Regulator states that a person may lodge a POPIA complaint if they believe their personal information has been processed in a way that violates POPIA.

 

17. Direct communication

We may contact you about programmes, events, opportunities, donor updates, volunteer activities or organisational news where you have engaged with us, consented to receive communication or where the communication is reasonably related to your relationship with Tshehetso.

You may opt out of non-essential communications at any time by contacting us or using any unsubscribe option provided.

 

18. Third-party links and platforms

Our website or communications may contain links to third-party websites, platforms, forms or services, such as payment platforms, social media pages, registration forms or partner resources.

Tshehetso is not responsible for the privacy practices, security or content of third-party platforms. We encourage users to read the privacy policies of any third-party websites or services they use.

 

19. Cross-border processing

Some of our digital tools, cloud services, email platforms, website services or analytics providers may store or process information outside South Africa.

Where personal information is transferred outside South Africa, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, as required by applicable law.

 

20. Security incidents and breaches

If we become aware of a security incident involving personal information, we will take reasonable steps to investigate, contain, mitigate and respond to the incident.

Where required by law, we will notify affected persons and/or the Information Regulator.

 

21. Updates to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our programmes, website, operations, legal requirements or privacy practices.

The updated version will be posted on our website with the latest effective date.

 

22. Contact us

For privacy questions, access requests, correction requests, complaints or consent withdrawals, please contact:

Tshehetso Development Projects
Email: info@tshehetso.org.za
Phone: 078 226 1328
Operating areas: Free State, Gauteng townships and Northern Cape
Information Officer / Privacy Contact: Molehe Wesi

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