Privacy Policy

Benaters (“Benaters”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting your personal information and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy sets out how we collect, use, store, and disclose your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”) and other applicable South African law.

By using our website at www.benaters.com, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

This policy is effective as of 29 March 2026.

Information Officer

Benaters has designated an Information Officer responsible for ensuring compliance with POPIA. For any queries, requests, or complaints relating to your personal information, please contact our Information Officer at:

Email: shaun@benaters.com

Postal Address: 21 Scott Street, Waverley, Johannesburg, 2090

Information We Collect

We collect personal information that you knowingly provide to us, as well as certain information that is automatically collected when you use our website. This may include:

  • Your name and email address, when you contact us or sign up to receive updates

  • The nature of your legal enquiry, where you contact us for legal services

  • Technical data automatically logged by our servers when you visit our website, including your device’s IP address, browser type and version, pages visited, time and date of your visit, and time spent on each page

Please be aware that while technical log data may not identify you on its own, it may be combined with other information to identify you personally.

Why We Collect Your Personal Information

We only collect and use your personal information where we have a lawful basis to do so under POPIA. We collect and process your personal information for the following purposes:

  • To respond to your enquiries and communicate with you

  • To provide legal services to you

  • To comply with our anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing obligations under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act

  • For conflict-of-interest checks and client relationship management

  • For practice management, research, training, and general administrative purposes

  • To send you marketing and business development material that may be of interest to you, where you have not opted out of receiving such communications

  • For market research and to improve our website and services

  • For audit and compliance purposes

Your personal information will not be processed for purposes incompatible with those listed above.

Disclosure of Your Personal Information

We may disclose your personal information to third parties in the following circumstances:

  • To other members, employees, and contractors within Benaters for the purposes described above

  • To third-party service providers who assist us in operating our website and delivering our services, including IT providers, hosting providers, and data storage providers

  • To courts, tribunals, regulatory authorities, law enforcement, and our professional regulators, where required by law or in connection with legal proceedings

  • To our Money Laundering Compliance Officer or relevant external authorities where we are required to report under anti-money laundering legislation

  • To any other party with your prior consent

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

International Transfers of Personal Information

Where it is necessary to transfer your personal information outside of South Africa, Benaters will only do so in compliance with section 72 of POPIA. This means we will only transfer your personal information to a foreign country if that country provides an adequate level of protection for personal information, if you have consented to the transfer, or if the transfer is otherwise lawfully permitted. We will take reasonable steps to ensure your personal information remains protected in accordance with POPIA when transferred across borders.

Security of Your Personal Information

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against loss, theft, and unauthorised access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification. While we do our best to protect your information, no method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. We will comply with our notification obligations under POPIA in the event of a data breach.

How Long We Keep Your Personal Information

We retain your personal information only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by applicable law, professional rules, or regulatory obligations — including our record-keeping obligations as attorneys. When your personal information is no longer required, we will destroy or anonymise it securely.

Cookies

We use cookies to collect information about your activity on our website. A cookie is a small piece of data stored on your device that helps us understand how you use our site and improve your experience. You may configure your browser to refuse cookies, although this may affect certain functionality on our website.

Children

We do not knowingly collect personal information from persons under the age of 18. If you are under 18, please do not submit any personal information to us through this website. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a person under 18, we will delete it promptly.

Your Rights Under POPIA

In terms of POPIA, you have the following rights in respect of your personal information held by Benaters:

  • The right to be notified that your personal information is being collected and processed

  • The right to access the personal information that Benaters holds about you

  • The right to request the correction or deletion of your personal information where it is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading, or obtained unlawfully

  • The right to object, on reasonable grounds, to the processing of your personal information

  • The right to object to the processing of your personal information for purposes of direct marketing

  • The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator if you believe that Benaters has interfered with the protection of your personal information

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Information Officer at shaun@benaters.com

Information Regulator

If you are not satisfied with our response to a complaint or believe we are processing your personal information unlawfully, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa:

Website: www.inforegulator.org.za

Email: inforeg@justice.gov.za

Postal Address: JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001

Links to External Websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites that are not operated by us. We have no control over the content or privacy practices of those sites and accept no responsibility or liability for them. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any external sites you visit.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our business practices, applicable law, or regulatory requirements. Any updates will be posted on this page with a revised effective date. Where required by law, we will seek your consent or give you the opportunity to opt in or opt out of any new uses of your personal information.

Contact Us

For any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or the handling of your personal information, please contact us:

Email: info@benaters.com

Phone: +27 72 059 7640

Address: 21 Scott Street, Waverley, Johannesburg, 2090