Policies & Legal Information

1. Legal Identity & Electronic Supplier Information

Funda Online Academy provides fully online short-course services. The following details identify the party responsible for the website and Academy services.

Formal notices may be initiated through the email address above. An authorised physical address for formal service will be confirmed through an official Academy channel where required. Do not use an address obtained from an unverified social-media post or third party.

The Academy describes each course, its duration, price and available payment choices on the live course page or enrolment screen. Before submitting an application, a student can review and correct the information entered, choose an available payment option, and decide not to proceed.

This page may be saved or printed for your records. Where policy acceptance is required, the Academy records the policy version accepted; a copy of an available enrolment or transaction record may be requested through the official support route.

2. Student Terms & Conditions

By creating or using a Funda Online Academy account, you agree to these terms and to any course-specific information shown before enrolment. If another person lawfully pays on your behalf, the student remains responsible for complying with the academic and account rules.

• Provide information that is accurate, current and yours to provide. The Academy may request reasonable identity, eligibility or payment verification.
• Your login is personal. Keep your password and one-time passwords secure and do not allow another person to complete learning or assessments through your account.
• Creating an account or submitting proof of payment does not by itself activate a course. Access may depend on a completed application, verified payment, applicable eligibility checks and Academy approval.
• Use Academy systems lawfully and respectfully. Fraud, falsified records, academic dishonesty, unauthorised sharing, harmful code or attempts to bypass security may result in investigation and proportionate access restrictions.
• Course materials, branding and platform content remain protected by applicable intellectual-property law. Student access is personal, limited and non-transferable; it does not transfer ownership or permit commercial copying or redistribution.
• Keep your contact information current. Operational notices may be sent to the email address, mobile number, WhatsApp number or dashboard linked to your account.
• If a learner does not have full legal capacity to contract, the Academy may require consent or assistance from a parent, guardian or authorised representative before enrolment.

The Academy may perform reasonable maintenance and security work. If a material service problem affects delivery, the Academy will assess an appropriate remedy under these terms and applicable law.

3. Privacy Notice & POPIA

Funda Online Academy (Pty) Ltd is the responsible party for personal information processed for its Academy services. Privacy and access-to-information requests can be sent to info@fundaonlineacademy.co.za for routing to the responsible person.

What information may be processed

• Identity, account and contact information, including an identity or passport number where reasonably required.
• Course, application, attendance, learning, assessment and certification records.
• Payment information and uploaded documents, including proof of payment and supporting records.
• Support requests, communications, referral details and records of policy acceptance.
• Technical and security information such as browser, device, login, audit and system-use records where reasonably necessary.

Sources, purposes and legal grounds

Information is normally collected directly from you, from an authorised payer or representative, and from Academy systems or service providers when they deliver a requested service. Where lawful and necessary, information may also be checked against records supplied by an accreditation, identity, payment or regulatory body.

The Academy processes information to create and secure accounts; assess applications; verify identity, eligibility and payments; deliver learning and support; administer assessments and certificates; maintain academic, finance and audit records; prevent fraud; manage referrals; communicate about the service; comply with law; and establish or defend legal rights. Processing is based, as applicable, on performance of an agreement, legal obligations, legitimate operational interests, protection of rights, or consent where consent is required.

Voluntary and required information

Fields marked as required, and information reasonably needed to verify an application, payment, assessment or certificate, must be provided for that service to proceed. Other information is voluntary. If required information is not provided or cannot be verified, the Academy may be unable to create the account, approve the enrolment, match the payment, provide access, issue a certificate or resolve the request.

Sharing, operators and cross-border processing

Information may be shared only as reasonably necessary with authorised Academy personnel and vetted operators that provide hosting, database, communications, document, payment-support, security, professional-advice or regulatory services. It may also be disclosed where required by law or to protect lawful rights. The Academy does not sell student personal information.

Some cloud and technology providers may store or process information outside South Africa, including in the United Kingdom or other jurisdictions where their infrastructure or support teams operate. The Academy must use lawful transfer grounds and reasonable contractual, organisational or legal safeguards consistent with POPIA before transferring personal information across borders.

Retention, security and incidents

Information is kept only for as long as reasonably needed for the stated purpose, an active student relationship, academic and finance records, fraud prevention, legal obligations or the establishment or defence of rights. When retention is no longer justified, information should be securely deleted, destroyed or de-identified.

The Academy uses reasonable technical and organisational safeguards, including access controls and role-based permissions. No internet service can promise absolute security. If a security compromise creates a notification duty, affected people and the Information Regulator will be notified as required by law.

Your choices and rights

• Ask whether the Academy holds personal information about you and request access, subject to lawful limits.
• Ask for inaccurate, incomplete, excessive, outdated or unlawfully obtained information to be corrected or deleted where the law permits.
• Object to qualifying processing or withdraw consent where processing depends on consent; withdrawal does not invalidate earlier lawful processing.
• Ask for a human review of a material decision if it was made solely through automated processing and the law gives that right.
• Complain to the Academy or lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.

Send a clear request to info@fundaonlineacademy.co.za. The Academy may request proportionate proof of identity or authority before disclosing or changing a record.

Direct marketing and browser storage

Electronic direct marketing will be sent only where permitted by law. You may decline marketing when details are collected and may unsubscribe or object without charge through the method provided in a marketing message or by emailing the Academy. Necessary service, security, payment and academic notices are not marketing.

The website may use essential cookies or browser storage for login, session, security, preferences and core functionality. Blocking essential storage may prevent parts of the service from working. If non-essential tracking is introduced, the relevant notice and choice mechanism should be updated before use.

4. Payment Policy

The price and payment choices displayed on the live course page or enrolment screen apply at the time of application, subject to a verified discount or approved offer. Instalments are payment-plan amounts; they are not weekly payments.

• Below R1,000: full payment only.
• R1,000 or more: two instalments are available.
• R2,000 or more and a course duration of at least eight weeks: three instalments are available.
• An eligible student may choose to pay the full course fee upfront instead of using instalments.

The system-calculated amount currently due is the amount that must be paid. A verified discount may affect the payable amount and therefore the plan offered. Students must use the official banking details and reference shown in the Academy enrolment process. Approved methods are EFT / bank transfer and bank deposit; cash is not accepted.

• Check the beneficiary, account details, reference and amount before authorising payment.
• Proof of payment must be genuine and relate to the student and application for which it is submitted.
• Submitting proof does not by itself confirm payment approval or course access. The Academy may verify the transaction first.
• If an amount or reference cannot be matched, the Academy may request additional information. Never send a password, OTP or banking PIN.
• Continued access under an instalment plan may depend on verified instalments being received when due.

5. Refunds, Cancellations & Incorrect Payments

No term on this page removes a consumer right that cannot lawfully be excluded. Refund and cancellation requests are assessed according to the transaction, the student's status, the services already supplied and applicable South African law.

Cooling-off rights

Where section 44 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act applies to an electronically concluded service agreement, a consumer may cancel without reason and without penalty within seven days after the agreement was concluded, and a qualifying payment must be refunded within 30 days after cancellation. That cooling-off right may not apply where the service began with the consumer's consent before the seven-day period ended, or where another statutory exception applies. Any other applicable consumer-law cooling-off right also remains unaffected.

Before and after access begins

• Before course access or services begin, contact the Academy promptly if you want to cancel. The Academy will assess the request and any applicable statutory right.
• After access or services begin, stopping participation or changing your mind does not automatically create a full-refund right. Any refund, cancellation amount or reasonable deduction will be determined under applicable law and the circumstances.
• If the Academy cancels a paid service or cannot provide it, the Academy will offer the remedy required by law, which may include an alternative arrangement or refund.

Duplicate, incorrect and declined payments

• Report a duplicate or incorrect payment promptly with the Academy reference and proof of payment.
• The Academy cannot credit funds it did not receive. If money was sent to an incorrect third-party account, contact your bank or payment provider immediately; this does not remove any right you may have where the Academy caused the error.
• If a legacy-upgrade application received a provisional discounted payment but the claimed prior-study eligibility cannot be verified, the payment for that declined application may be processed for refund after review.
• Before paying a refund, the Academy may verify the payer, transaction and destination account to reduce fraud. A refund will not require your password, OTP or banking PIN.

Submit payment-review or refund requests through the official dashboard support route or info@fundaonlineacademy.co.za so that the request can be recorded.

6. Learning, Assessments & Certification

Students must complete the learning, assessment and administrative requirements that apply to their course before it can be treated as successfully completed. Course-specific requirements and attempt rules may differ and will be shown in the relevant learning environment.

• Academic dishonesty, impersonation, misuse of another person's account or falsified evidence may result in investigation, invalidation of affected work or proportionate access restrictions.
• A certificate is issued only after the required completion and Academy checks have been satisfied.
• A certificate confirms the Academy course outcome stated on it; it does not create a guarantee of employment, promotion, professional registration or admission.
• The Academy's International CPD Accredited Trainer status, CPD #405201, should not be read as a claim that every short course is a registered qualification or carries formal academic credit.

7. Complaints & Dispute Resolution

Raise an account, enrolment, payment, learning or privacy concern through the official dashboard support route or email info@fundaonlineacademy.co.za. Include your name, the affected service, relevant dates and the outcome you request, but do not send passwords, OTPs or banking PINs. The Academy may request reasonable verification and will provide a reference or written response through an authorised channel.

If a privacy or PAIA matter is not resolved, you may contact the Information Regulator (South Africa) or use its eServices portal. General contact: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za, 010 023 5200, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191.

For an unresolved consumer complaint, you may also use the National Consumer Commission complaint process. These internal steps do not remove any right to approach a regulator, ombud, tribunal or court with jurisdiction.

8. Access to Records under PAIA

A person may request access to qualifying Academy records under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). Mark the request “PAIA request” and send it to info@fundaonlineacademy.co.za for routing to the responsible person.

Describe the record clearly, identify the right you seek to exercise or protect where PAIA requires it, state the preferred form of access, and include proof of identity or authority appropriate to the request. Prescribed fees and lawful grounds for granting, partially granting or refusing access may apply.

The Information Regulator publishes the current PAIA guide and prescribed forms on its PAIA guidance page. A POPIA personal-information request may follow a different prescribed process; the Academy will route the request according to its substance.

9. Policy Updates, Interpretation & Contact

The Academy may update these policies when its services, systems or legal obligations change. A material update will be identified by a new version or effective date, and the Academy may request a fresh acceptance where appropriate. Earlier acceptance records remain linked to the version accepted at that time.

These policies are governed by South African law. If a provision conflicts with a mandatory legal right, the mandatory right prevails and the remaining provisions continue to apply. Headings are for convenience and do not limit the wording.

Questions may be sent to info@fundaonlineacademy.co.za or through the official support options shown on the website or student dashboard.

Last updated: 01 October 2026. Policy version: FOA Policies v2.0.