The terms of our handshake.

By accessing or using the Platform in any capacity — as a worker seeking verification, as an employer searching for talent, or as a visitor browsing publicly available pages — you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference.

If you are entering into these Terms on behalf of a company, organisation, or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind that entity. In such cases, "you" and "your" refer to that entity as well as to you personally.

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated by email to registered users and posted prominently on the Platform at least fourteen (14) days before they take effect. Your continued use of Hustla after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

Hustla is available to two categories of user: workers, who register to be verified and discovered for employment opportunities, and employers, who use the Platform to find, evaluate, and contact verified workers.

• You are at least eighteen (18) years of age.
• You are legally permitted to work in, or to recruit workers within, the Republic of South Africa.
• You have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract under South African law.
• You are not barred from using the Platform under any applicable law, sanctions regime, or prior decision by Hustla.
• You provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and keep that information up to date.

We reserve the right to refuse registration, decline verification, or terminate any account at our sole discretion where eligibility cannot be confirmed or where these Terms have been breached.

Workers register with Hustla to undergo identity, right-to-work, and reference verification, and to make a professional profile available to employers who search the Platform. Registration does not, on its own, constitute an offer of employment, a guarantee of work, or a promise of placement.

• All information you provide — including your full legal name, identification documents, qualifications, references, and work history — is true, accurate, and belongs to you.
• You consent to Hustla, or third-party verification providers acting on our behalf, performing the checks reasonably necessary to verify your identity, right to work, and the credentials you have submitted.
• You will keep your profile current and notify us promptly of any change that would affect the accuracy of your verification status.
• You understand that verification confirms specific data points at a specific moment in time. It is not a character reference, a performance guarantee, or a substitute for an employer’s own due diligence.
• You are solely responsible for the employment relationships, contracts, and arrangements you enter into with employers who contact you via the Platform.

Hustla may, in its sole discretion, decline to verify a worker, revoke a previously granted verification, or remove a profile from public visibility where information cannot be confirmed, where we have reasonable grounds to suspect fraud or misrepresentation, or where conduct has breached these Terms.

Employers register to search, shortlist, and contact verified workers through the Platform. Hustla is a discovery and verification service. We are not a recruitment agency, a labour broker, or a party to any contract of employment formed between an employer and a worker.

• Conducting your own due diligence on any worker beyond the verification we provide, including interviews, skills assessments, and any further reference checks you consider appropriate.
• Complying with all applicable South African labour, tax, and immigration law in your hiring, engagement, and management of workers — including the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Labour Relations Act, and the Employment Equity Act.
• Issuing lawful contracts of employment or service, paying agreed remuneration, and meeting statutory obligations such as UIF, SDL, and PAYE where applicable.
• Ensuring that your hiring decisions are made on lawful and non-discriminatory grounds. You may not use the Platform to filter, exclude, or evaluate workers on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, HIV status, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, or any other ground prohibited by section 9 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa or the Employment Equity Act.
• Treating any worker contact details, identification data, or other personal information obtained via the Platform in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act ("POPIA") and only for the legitimate purpose of evaluating and engaging that worker.

Hustla makes no representation that any worker will accept your offer, perform to your expectations, or remain in your employ for any particular duration. Disputes between employers and workers concerning the employment relationship are not disputes with Hustla.

The "Hustla Verified" badge is awarded to workers who have successfully completed our verification process at a given point in time. It is a record, not a promise.

The badge confirms that, on the date of verification, Hustla received and reviewed documents reasonably evidencing the worker’s identity, right to work in South Africa, and the specific credentials or references listed on their profile.

• The badge is not a guarantee of the worker’s future conduct, honesty, skill level, work quality, punctuality, or suitability for any particular role.
• The badge is not a character reference and does not represent Hustla’s opinion of the worker.
• The badge does not transfer liability for hiring outcomes from the employer to Hustla.
• The badge may be revoked at any time if subsequent information indicates that verification was obtained fraudulently or that the underlying facts have changed.

Employers are encouraged to treat the badge as one input among several when evaluating candidates, and to conduct any further checks appropriate to the role.

To keep Hustla useful and safe for everyone, certain conduct is strictly prohibited. Engaging in any of the following may result in suspension or termination of your account, removal of your content, forfeiture of fees, and, where appropriate, referral to law enforcement.

• Submitting false, misleading, or fraudulent information during registration or verification, including impersonating another person or using forged identity or qualification documents.
• Using the Platform to harass, threaten, defame, or discriminate against any other user.
• Posting unlawful, obscene, or hateful content, or content that infringes the intellectual property or privacy rights of others.
• Scraping, harvesting, or otherwise extracting worker profiles, contact details, or platform data by automated means, or using such data for any purpose other than the lawful evaluation and engagement of a specific worker.
• Reselling, sublicensing, or otherwise commercialising access to Hustla data without our prior written consent.
• Soliciting workers off-platform in order to circumvent fees or to avoid the protections these Terms provide to both parties.
• Attempting to probe, scan, breach, or interfere with the security or integrity of the Platform, our infrastructure, or any related systems.
• Using the Platform in a manner that violates South African law, including but not limited to POPIA, the Employment Equity Act, the Cybercrimes Act, or the Films and Publications Act.

Hustla charges fees for certain services. Current pricing is published on the Platform and forms part of these Terms when you purchase or subscribe to a paid service.

• Verification fees payable by workers, or by employers on behalf of workers, to cover the cost of identity, right-to-work, and reference checks.
• Subscription or access fees payable by employers for search, shortlisting, and contact features.
• Optional add-on services such as expedited verification, enhanced profile features, or premium support.

All amounts are quoted in South African Rand (ZAR) and are inclusive of value-added tax (VAT) at the prevailing rate unless stated otherwise. Payment is processed through a third-party payment provider; by paying, you also accept that provider’s terms.

Refunds are governed by the Consumer Protection Act, 68 of 2008 ("CPA") and by any specific refund terms disclosed at the point of sale. Verification fees, once verification work has commenced, are generally non-refundable to the extent permitted by law, because the underlying service has been performed. Where the CPA grants you a statutory right to cancel or refund, that right is preserved and is not limited by these Terms.

We may change our fees on thirty (30) days’ prior notice. Changes do not apply to services already paid for.

The Platform — including the Hustla name, the Hustla Verified mark, our logos, software, design, copy, photography, and the structure and selection of profile data displayed to employers — is owned by Thought Into Reality (Pty) Ltd and its licensors, and is protected by South African and international copyright, trade mark, and other intellectual property laws.

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and use the Platform for its intended purpose. No other rights are granted by implication.

You retain ownership of the content you upload — your profile copy, photographs, qualifications, and references. By uploading content, you grant Hustla a worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, display, reproduce, and otherwise use that content as reasonably necessary to operate the Platform, to perform verification, and to make your profile discoverable to employers in accordance with your privacy settings.

You warrant that you own or have the right to grant this licence over the content you upload, and that the content does not infringe the rights of any third party.

The Platform is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, and subject always to the rights granted to you by the Consumer Protection Act, Hustla makes no warranties, express or implied, regarding the Platform, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

• That any worker will be hired, retained, or perform satisfactorily.
• That any employer will make an offer, pay on time, or honour a contract of employment.
• That verification will identify every instance of fraud, misrepresentation, or unsuitability — verification reduces risk, it does not eliminate it.
• That the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of viruses or other harmful components.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Hustla, its directors, employees, agents, and the iDeployed group shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of profit, loss of business, loss of data, or reputational harm, arising out of or in connection with your use of the Platform.

Where liability cannot lawfully be excluded, our aggregate liability to you for any claim arising out of or in connection with these Terms shall not exceed the greater of (i) the fees you have paid to Hustla in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (ii) ZAR 1,000.

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes any liability that cannot be limited or excluded under South African law, including liability arising under the CPA for the supply of unsafe or defective services.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Hustla, Thought Into Reality (Pty) Ltd, iDeployed UG (haftungsbeschränkt), and their respective directors, employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, demands, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to:

• your breach of these Terms or of any law or regulation;
• your submission of false, misleading, or infringing content;
• any employment relationship, contract, or dispute between you and another user of the Platform;
• your violation of the rights of any third party, including intellectual property and privacy rights.

We reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defence and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, in which case you agree to cooperate with our defence of the claim.

You may close your account at any time by contacting us at [email protected] or by using the in-platform account closure flow.

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Platform, in whole or in part, with or without notice, where we reasonably believe that:

• you have breached these Terms, including by engaging in any prohibited conduct;
• the information you provided during registration or verification was false, misleading, or incomplete in a material respect;
• your continued use of the Platform poses a risk of harm to other users, to Hustla, or to the integrity of the verification system;
• we are required to do so to comply with a court order, regulator request, or applicable law.

Where suspension or termination is not based on urgent safety or legal grounds, we will give you reasonable notice and, where practicable, an opportunity to remedy the issue. On termination, your right to use the Platform ceases immediately. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination — including those relating to intellectual property, disclaimers, liability, indemnification, and dispute resolution — will continue to apply.

We would much rather resolve a dispute than litigate one. If you have a complaint or concern, please first contact us at [email protected] with a clear description of the issue and the outcome you are seeking. We will acknowledge your complaint within five (5) business days and aim to resolve it within thirty (30) business days.

If the matter cannot be resolved through good-faith discussion, either party may refer the dispute to mediation under the rules of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa ("AFSA"), with a single mediator appointed by AFSA and the mediation conducted in Johannesburg in English.

If mediation does not resolve the dispute within sixty (60) days of referral, the dispute shall be finally resolved by arbitration under the AFSA expedited rules, save that either party retains the right to seek urgent interim relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.

Nothing in this clause limits any right you may have under the Consumer Protection Act to lodge a complaint with the National Consumer Commission or the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud, nor any right under the Protection of Personal Information Act to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.

These Terms, your use of the Platform, and any dispute arising out of or in connection with them are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.

You agree that the courts of the Republic of South Africa, and specifically the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Local Division, Johannesburg, shall have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any matter that proceeds to litigation, subject always to the dispute resolution procedure set out above.

These Terms are intended to be consistent with, and are to be read together with, the Consumer Protection Act, 68 of 2008, the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 25 of 2002 ("ECTA"), the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013, and the Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998. Where any provision of these Terms is found to be inconsistent with a right granted to you under those Acts, that right prevails and the offending provision is severable to the extent of the inconsistency.

In accordance with section 43 of ECTA, our full business and contact information is set out in the Contact section below.

For questions about these Terms, complaints about the Platform, requests under the Consumer Protection Act, or any other legal correspondence, please contact us using the details below.

• Trading name — Hustla
• Legal entity — Thought Into Reality (Pty) Ltd
• Registered address — Atrium on 5th, 9th Floor, 5th Street, Sandton, Johannesburg, 2196, Republic of South Africa
• Parent company — iDeployed UG (haftungsbeschränkt), Leipzig, Germany
• Email — [email protected]
• Website — hustla.co.za

We aim to respond to legal and compliance correspondence within five (5) business days of receipt. Thank you for reading to the end — and for treating the people on the other side of this Platform with the seriousness they deserve.