Terms of use

These terms apply to the public website, account workspaces and anything you send us. Mandate SA is operated by Mandate SA (Pty) Ltd. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under South African law that cannot be limited, including under the Consumer Protection Act and POPIA where they apply.

• You may read, cite and share the public record. When you reuse a figure, credit Mandate SA and the official source shown with it.
• Official data stays subject to its publisher’s licence. The licence of every source is on sources and licences.
• A record shows what an official source states, with its source and date. Absence from the record is not proof that something did not happen. Comparisons across elections follow the boundaries each was counted on.
• You may use the site's own interfaces and published data endpoints at a reasonable rate. Do not scrape in a way that burdens the service, bypasses its limits, or collects personal information about the people in the record for unrelated purposes.

• Election results are shown as the Electoral Commission (IEC) published them, with the election, ballot, area and the date retrieved. Mandate SA does not re-count, adjust or estimate results; where a figure is missing, the page says so rather than filling it in.
• Official results can be corrected or amended by their publisher. When that happens, the record shows the new version and keeps the earlier one, with the date of the change.
• Boundaries change between elections. Results are always shown on the boundaries they were counted on, so comparisons across years need care; the pages say when an area did not exist in an earlier election.
• Totals across areas follow one rule throughout: one level of result per ballot, never counted twice. The method is described in the methodology.
• Mandate SA is independent and non-partisan. Showing a party, a candidate or a result is not an endorsement, and nothing on the site is advice on how to vote.

Javi helps find and summarise what is on the public record. Its answers can be incomplete or miss context, and an answer is only as good as the published record it draws on. Every answer cites its sources: check them before relying on an answer, quoting it or acting on it. Javi does not give legal, financial or voting advice, and its answers are not Mandate SA’s editorial findings. Javi on the public site is switched off until an independent security review is complete.

• Accounts are for parties, organisations and representatives, and for people who claim a record about themselves. You must be 18 or older to hold one.
• Accounts are opened by invitation from Mandate SA. An invitation is personal: do not pass it on, and do not let anyone else use your sign-in.
• If you claim a party's profile, you confirm that you are authorised to act for the party, for example as its secretary-general or on behalf of its national office. Give accurate information and evidence: an e-mail address on the party's own domain and a link to a page on the party's official website that names you or your office. Our editors check a claim before it gives any access, and may ask for more.
• If your role in the party ends, tell us, and stop using the account for the party.
• Keep your password and two-step verification device secure. Tell us at once if you think your account has been used without you. You are responsible for what is done through your account, unless it was not your fault.
• Do not claim a record you are not entitled to claim, impersonate anyone, or submit a forged document.
• Being an account member is not the same as being verified, and a verified account is not editorial approval. Verification confirms who holds the account. It does not endorse anything they say.
• We may restrict, suspend or close an account that breaks these terms. We will tell you why unless the law or someone's safety prevents it, and you may ask for a review.
• There is no self-service account deletion yet. Ask us, and we will close the account and tell you what has to be kept.

• You may send disputes, additional information, a right of response or a profile claim, with evidence. Send only what you are entitled to share, and only material you have the right to send. Do not include other people's private details unless the matter needs them.
• You keep your rights in what you send. You allow Mandate SA to store it, review it, and publish what an editor accepts (such as a correction or your published response) with appropriate attribution. Contact details and identity documents are never published.
• Sending something does not change the record. An editor decides against the evidence, and the decision and its reasons are recorded.

You may not use Mandate SA to:

• harass, threaten or incite violence against anyone;
• publish someone's private information (doxxing);
• defame anyone, or submit evidence you know to be false;
• attempt to access accounts, data or systems you are not authorised to use, test our security outside our security policy, or disrupt the service (including denial of service and automated abuse);
• send spam or malware, or infringe someone's copyright.

Criticism of public officials, parties and institutions is welcome. It is not a breach of these terms just because it is critical. See the community guidelines.

Anyone may ask for a correction. A person or party named in the record may dispute it or respond. The process, and how corrections and retractions appear, is set out in corrections and disputes. A correction does not erase history: the earlier version and the reason for the change stay visible.

Editorial decisions are made on evidence by Mandate SA’s editors. No account, subscription, payment or relationship buys a different finding, faster treatment or a change to the record. Paid analysis features, where offered, work only on the same published data that everyone can see.

Mandate SA’s own text, design and code are protected by copyright. Third-party material is credited and used under its licence. If you believe material on Mandate SA infringes your copyright, write to info@mandatesa.com. Tell us what the material is, where it appears and the basis of your claim, and we will assess the notice.

We work to keep the service available and the record accurate, but we cannot promise uninterrupted service. The record reflects official sources, which can themselves be wrong or incomplete; every figure shows its source so it can be checked. To the extent the law allows, Mandate SA is not liable for losses caused by relying on the record without checking its source.

Links to other websites are provided for reference. We are not responsible for their content.

These terms are governed by South African law. Changes take effect when published with a new version date. A change that affects your rights will be explained first. Questions: info@mandatesa.com.