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Terms and Conditions of Use for the Wits website

Use of this website is governed by the University’s Rules, Regulations, Policies and Procedures (the Rules), including the University’s website Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use and Guidelines for Online Conduct.

Welcome to the website of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (the University). By accessing and using this website, you signify that you have read these Terms and Conditions of Use and agree to comply with and be bound by them. If you do not agree to be bound by these rules, you should immediately exit all sites.

Please read these Terms and Conditions of Use carefully before accessing and using this website.

INTERPRETATION

The terms “the University”, “we”, “us” or “our” refer to the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

The term “you” refers to the user or viewer of the University’s website.

GENERAL DISCLAIMER

  1. General Disclaimer

    The University will use all reasonable endeavours to keep this website constantly available and the contents therein current, accurate and reliable. However, please note the following:

    • This website is for information purposes only. The University makes no representations or warranties, whether express or implied, in relation to this website or the veracity, accuracy, completeness, reliability and suitability of the information, materials, products or services provided herein. Reliance by the user on any information, materials, products or services provided herein is entirely at user’s own risk and the University will not be liable for any damages arising therefrom.
    • The University makes no representations and gives no warranties as to the constant availability of this website or any of the sites herein at any given time. The University reserves the right to modify, change or discontinue this website, or any part thereof, on a periodical basis, temporarily or permanently, without notice.
    • This website may contain links to other websites over which the University has no control. Inclusion of these links does not imply a recommendation or endorsement of anything expressed therein.
    If any provision in this disclaimer is, or is found to be, unenforceable under any applicable law, the enforceability of the other provisions herein is not affected.

  2. Intellectual Property Rights

    Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, all intellectual property rights existing in and attaching to this website, including the University’s brand and logo, are the property of the University, and may not be reproduced or otherwise used without the express written consent of the University.

    By use of this website the user undertakes to abide by all intellectual property restrictions contained herein, including but not limited to restrictions on intellectual property owned by third parties.

TERMS OF USE

  1. Intellectual Property and Restrictions on Use

    This website contains information which is owned by or is licensed to us, including but not limited to text, design, layout, graphics, organization, magnetic translation, digital conversion and other information related to the website. This information is protected under applicable intellectual property laws and reproduction, distribution, publication or any other use other than in accordance with the next paragraph is strictly prohibited.

    You are granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to;

    • access and use this website strictly in accordance with these Terms;
    • to use this website solely for personal, non-commercial purposes;
    • to download or print out information from the website solely for personal, non-commercial purposes, provided that all copyright and other intellectual property notices therein are unchanged.

  2. Interactive Online Forums

    The access and use of any chat-room, newsgroup, bulletin board, mailing list, transaction or other online forum available at http://www.wits.ac.za, shall be governed by the Rules for Online Conduct.

  3. Links

    You may not create a link to this website from another website or document without the prior written consent of the University.

  4. Variation of Terms of Use

    The University reserves the right to modify these terms at any time and will publish notice of any such modifications online. By continuing to access any of the University’s sites after notice of such modifications has been published, you agree to comply with and be bound by them.

  5. Applicable Law

    Your use of this website and any dispute arising out of such use of the website is subject to the laws of the Republic of South Africa.

GUIDELINES FOR ONLINE CONDUCT

  1. You agree to use these sites in accordance with all applicable laws.
  2. The University respects the constitutional right to freedom of speech and encourages robust intellectual debate. You must note, however, that your right to free speech is subject to, and must abide by, the limitations contained in the Constitution.
  3. You agree not to post anywhere on the website any advertising or any form of commercial solicitation, including, but not limited to, spamming.
  4. You agree not to post anywhere on the website any content that contains viruses or other harmful items.
  5. The University reserves the right to remove content, block access or take other action with respect to content which violates the above rules and guidelines.
  6. If a third party claims that any material you have contributed to a site is unlawful, you will bear the burden of establishing that the material complies with all applicable laws.
  7. You agree that you will not access or attempt to access any other user’s account, or misrepresent or attempt to misrepresent your identity while using the sites.
  8. You agree that you will not restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the sites.
  9. You agree that you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password, if any, and for restricting access to your computer, and agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password.
  10. The University respects the intellectual property of others. If you believe your copyright has been violated on a site hosted by the University, please give notice at: nicoleen.potgieter@wits.ac.za. The University will, upon receipt of such notice, use all reasonable means to remove the infringing content and inform the person that posted it of such removal and the reason therefor.

PRIVACY STATEMENT

  1. To facilitate access to University information and services, the University has set up its website to enable the collection of information belonging to users of the website. The website allows users to, among other things, apply for admission, submit academic works, participate in online forums, make payments to the University, and otherwise communicate with the University.
  2. The University is firmly committed to the privacy of the users of its website. Subject to applicable laws and the University’s Rules no personal information posted by users in this website will be shared or made public without the prior consent of the user thereto.
  3. In so far as making representations to the University that the University relies on, the user warrants that such information is true and the University may, at its sole discretion, take steps to verify these representations without further recourse to the user. 

House rules for Social Media Conduct

The University of the Witwatersrands' (Wits) social media pages are intended to provide a forum for sharing ideas and opinions regarding our work and our industry.

We encourage your participation on our pages, but must ask that you respect Wits as well as other users on our pages. By using our pages, you agree to follow our house rules.

We welcome content and comments that:

  • Are appropriate responses to comments left by others
  • Have a positive, supportive and constructive tone

We cannot allow content and comments that:

  • Are offensive or abusive in any way
  • Are spam
  • Use language that is not appropriate for a public page

We will delete content and comments without notice if they:

  • Are considered to be any form of cyber bullying
  • Include material that is unlawful, libelous, fraudulent, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening, harassing, insulting or deemed confidential
  • Attempt to hijack this page by importing personal conflicts, agendas or grudges
  • Are considered to be a form of trolling
Please follow the rules of the platform: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.
 
The official University social media accounts are:

Wits University Social Media Policy

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