Membership Terms and Conditions

1.Definitions and interpretation

1. "Network" means the BeeHive Business Network, a vetted professional network operated by the Company. "Member" means a person or entity whose application has been accepted and whose fees are paid up.
2. "Member directory" means the listing of members, their disciplines, rates and contact routes that the Network maintains for referral purposes.
3. In this document, "the Company", "we", "us" and "our" mean AutoHive Artificial Intelligence (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2025/756077/07, trading as BeeHive Business Network, and "you" and "your" mean the person or entity dealing with us.
4. "Business day" means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a South African public holiday, and "business hours" means 08:30 to 17:00 South African Standard Time on a business day.
5. "Writing" includes email, and "signed" includes a reliable electronic signature as recognised by South African law on electronic communications and transactions.
6. Headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation. The singular includes the plural and one gender includes the others.
7. Where any provision conflicts with a right you have under South African consumer protection or data protection legislation that cannot lawfully be excluded, that legislation prevails to the extent of the conflict.

2.Membership and vetting

1. Membership is by application. We assess applications against the published criteria for the discipline applied for, and we may decline an application without giving reasons, applied lawfully and without unfair discrimination.
2. You warrant that the information in your application, including qualifications, portfolio items, professional registrations and rates, is true and stays true. Tell us within ten business days if any of it changes materially.
3. Membership is personal to the member and may not be transferred, shared or resold.
4. We may re-vet members confirm re-vetting cadence, for example every twelve months to keep the directory reliable.

3.What membership includes

1. Listing in the member directory, eligibility for referrals passed through the Network, access to member events, and the member rates published from time to time.
2. Referrals are introductions, not guarantees of work. Contracts for referred work are between the member and the client directly, unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing, and the Company is not a party to them.
3. Where a referral fee or commission applies to work sourced through the Network, it is confirm referral fee basis and percentage and is disclosed to the member before the introduction is made.

4.Fees and renewal

1. Membership fees are confirm fee amount and billing cycle, for example monthly or annual, payable in advance, and are reviewed on notice of at least one calendar month.
2. If fees are unpaid ten business days after a written reminder, we may suspend the membership, and after a further twenty business days, cancel it.
3. You may cancel your membership on one calendar month's written notice. Fees already paid for the current period are not refunded unless the law requires it.

5.Directory content and intellectual property

1. You licence the Company to publish the profile content you supply, including your name, discipline, portfolio extracts and rates, in the member directory and in Network marketing that features members generally, for the duration of your membership.
2. You keep ownership of your own work. We keep ownership of the Network's brand, directory compilation and platform.
3. On termination we remove your directory profile within ten business days.

6.Your consumer rights

1. Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under the Consumer Protection Act or under South African law on electronic transactions, where those apply to you and to the membership services.
2. Where you conclude a transaction with us entirely electronically, you may have a statutory cooling-off right allowing cancellation within seven days after the transaction or delivery, subject to the exclusions the law sets out. Where the cooling-off right applies, we refund what you have paid within the period the law requires.
3. Where a statutory cooling-off right does not apply, our stated cancellation terms in these terms apply.
4. We aim to write in plain language. If any part of these terms is unclear, ask us before you accept them, and we will explain it.
5. You may complain to us first, and we will respond within ten business days. If we cannot resolve the matter, you may approach the consumer protection bodies or ombuds with jurisdiction, or a court.

7.Personal information

1. We process personal information as described in the BeeHive Business Network privacy notice at beehive.autohive.co.za/privacy.html and the AutoHive estate privacy notice at autohive.co.za/privacy/, in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act.
2. Our Information Officer is Barteld Jans Bakker, reachable at Mr.bee@autohive.co.za. You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information, and you may complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa).
3. Where we process personal information on your instructions as part of a service, the data processing terms in the applicable agreement apply in addition to this clause.

8.Liability and indemnity

1. We perform our obligations with the reasonable skill, care and diligence expected of a competent provider of a professional membership network.
2. To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, consequential or special damages, including loss of profit, loss of business, loss of data not caused by our gross negligence, or reputational harm.
3. To the extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability arising from or connected with an engagement is limited to the amount you actually paid us for that engagement in the six months before the event giving rise to the claim.
4. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for gross negligence or wilful misconduct, or any liability to a consumer that consumer protection legislation does not allow us to exclude.
5. You indemnify us against third-party claims arising from material, instructions or content you supply, or from your unlawful use of our services, except to the extent the claim is caused by our own breach or negligence.

9.Breach, suspension and termination

1. If a party commits a material breach and fails to remedy it within ten business days of written notice, the other party may cancel the affected engagement, without prejudice to other rights.
2. We may suspend services immediately where continued provision would be unlawful, where your account is materially overdue after notice, or where your use threatens the security or integrity of our systems or other clients, and we lift the suspension when the cause is resolved.
3. Either party may cancel immediately if the other is placed in liquidation, business rescue or a comparable process, to the extent the law permits.
4. Clauses that by their nature survive termination, including fees accrued, intellectual property, liability and disputes, survive.

10.Events beyond reasonable control

1. Neither party is liable for failure or delay caused by an event beyond its reasonable control, including natural disaster, fire, flood, war, riot, epidemic, government action, labour unrest, failure of telecommunications or hosting providers, and sustained interruption of electricity supply, including scheduled load-shedding beyond the ordinary published schedules.
2. The affected party notifies the other promptly, takes reasonable steps to limit the effect, and performance is suspended for the duration of the event.
3. If the event continues for more than thirty days, either party may cancel the affected engagement on written notice, and we refund any amount paid for services not yet delivered.

11.Disputes, governing law and jurisdiction

1. These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa.
2. The parties first attempt to resolve any dispute by good-faith negotiation between senior representatives within ten business days of written notice of the dispute.
3. If negotiation fails, the parties may agree to mediation in Cape Town or by video conference before either approaches a court or, where agreed in a signed agreement, arbitration.
4. The parties consent to the jurisdiction of the Magistrates' Courts with jurisdiction over our registered address, without excluding either party's right to approach the High Court of South Africa, Western Cape Division.
5. Nothing in this clause prevents a consumer from using any statutory complaint or redress channel available under South African consumer protection law.

12.General

1. These terms, together with any signed agreement, quotation and schedule, are the whole agreement on their subject. No amendment, waiver or cancellation is effective unless in writing and accepted by both parties.
2. If any provision is unenforceable, it is severed and the rest remains in force.
3. Neither party may cede or assign its rights or delegate its obligations without the other's written consent, not unreasonably withheld, except that we may use vetted subcontractors while remaining responsible for their work.
4. No relaxation or indulgence by either party is a waiver of any right.
5. We may update these terms for future engagements by publishing a new version with a new version number and effective date. The version in force when you contracted applies to that engagement.