Legal

Privacy Policy

How the South African Hindu Maha Sabha collects, uses, stores and protects your personal information, in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).

Last updated: 2 September 2026 · Applies to sahms.org.za

01Who we are

The South African Hindu Maha Sabha ("SAHMS", "we", "us") is the national representative body for Hindus in South Africa, established in 1912. For the purposes of POPIA we are the responsible party for the personal information described in this policy.

Contact us about your information

Organisation: South African Hindu Maha Sabha
Information Officer: The President, SAHMS
Email: admin@sahms.org.za
Telephone: (+27) 31 309 1951
Website: sahms.org.za

02What we collect

We collect only what we need to respond to you and to keep this website working. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.

Information	When we collect it	Voluntary?
Name, email address, message	When you submit our contact form	Voluntary — but without it we cannot reply
Email address, telephone number	When you email or phone us directly	Voluntary
IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, referring site	Automatically, on every visit, through our server logs and analytics	Automatic — you may block it (see section 04)
Correspondence records	When we deal with an enquiry, complaint or affiliate matter	Voluntary

What we do not collect on this website. We do not process card or banking details through sahms.org.za, we do not operate user accounts or logins for the public, and comments are closed on our articles.

03Why we collect it

To answer your enquiries and correspond with you.
To carry out the work of the Sabha — liaising with affiliates, temples, priests and community organisations.
To publish religious calendars, notices and articles, and to understand which of them are useful.
To keep the website secure, available and free of abuse.
To meet obligations placed on us by law.

We process this information on the bases permitted by section 11 of POPIA: with your consent, where it is necessary to pursue our legitimate interests as a representative body, or where the law requires it of us.

04Cookies & analytics

This website uses cookies and similar technologies. Some are necessary for the site to function; others help us understand how the site is used.

Google Analytics, via Google Tag Manager

We use Google Tag Manager (container GTM-MXJDQZD5) to load Google Analytics. This records your IP address, the pages you view, how long you stay and roughly where in the world you are. We use it in aggregate — to see which festivals and notices people look for — not to identify you.

Google Fonts

Our page typefaces (Marcellus, Inter and Open Sans) are loaded from Google's servers. Your browser's request discloses your IP address to Google in order to deliver the font files.

How to refuse

Set your browser to block or delete cookies. All modern browsers allow this.
Install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Enable "Do Not Track" or your browser's tracking protection.

Blocking these will not stop you reading anything on this website.

06Cross-border transfers

Google processes analytics and font-delivery data on servers outside South Africa, including in the United States and the European Union. Where personal information leaves South Africa we rely on section 72 of POPIA, on the basis that the recipient is subject to laws or binding agreements that uphold principles for lawful processing comparable to POPIA.

07How long we keep it

Information	Retention period
Contact form submissions and email correspondence	Up to 3 years after our last contact with you
Records relating to affiliates and Sabha business	For as long as the relationship continues, and thereafter as required by law
Website server logs	Generally not longer than 12 months
Aggregated analytics	As set in Google Analytics, up to 14 months

We delete or de-identify personal information once we no longer have a lawful purpose for keeping it, unless a law requires us to retain it for longer.

08Donations

Donations to our appeals — including relief funds coordinated through Initiative 108 — are made by direct bank transfer. Your banking details are handled by your own bank and by ours; they are never entered into or stored on this website.

If you contact us about a donation, we keep only what we need to acknowledge it and to satisfy audit requirements. Donations to our appeals are subject to independent audit.

09Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

Be told what personal information we hold about you.
Access that information, and receive a copy of it.
Correct or delete information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading or unlawfully obtained.
Object to our processing of your information.
Withdraw consent you previously gave, at any time.
Complain to the Information Regulator (section 12).
Not be subject to unsolicited direct electronic marketing.

To exercise any of these rights, email admin@sahms.org.za or telephone (+27) 31 309 1951. We may ask you to confirm your identity before we act, so that we do not disclose your information to somebody else. Access requests must be made on the form prescribed by the Information Regulator, and a prescribed fee may apply. We will respond within the period allowed by POPIA.

10Children

This website is intended for a general audience and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18 without the consent of a parent, guardian or other competent person. If you believe a child has given us information, please contact us and we will delete it.

11Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect personal information against loss, damage and unauthorised access. This website is served over an encrypted HTTPS connection, access to our systems is restricted to those who need it, and our software is kept up to date.

No website can promise perfect security. If a breach affects your personal information we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

12Complaints

Please raise any concern with us first — most matters are resolved quickly. If you are not satisfied, you may complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa.

Information Regulator (South Africa)

Website: inforegulator.org.za
General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
POPIA complaints: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

13Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our practices or the law change. The date at the top of the page shows when it was last revised. Material changes will be announced on our news page.