Web Address Agreement
Last updated: 5 October 2026
This agreement covers the .co.za web address (domain name) we register or manage for you as part of your Appetite Host package. It forms part of our Terms of Service. In it, "the registry" means the ZA Central Registry NPC, the organisation that operates all .co.za addresses, and "DiaMatrix" means DiaMatrix CC (trading as Domains.co.za), the accredited registrar through which we register them — see section 10.
Three parts limit what we or the registry are responsible for, or ask you to cover costs in certain cases. They are in highlighted boxes: section 4, section 9 and the indemnity in section 12. Please read them before you pay.
1. It is registered in your name
Your web address is registered with the registry in your name, using the details you gave us at purchase. You are the registrant and the owner. We act as your agent to register, renew and manage it — we never register your address in our own name.
2. Registry rules apply
.co.za addresses are governed by the ZA Central Registry's published terms and the .za Domain Name Authority's policies, which bind every registrant. By buying a package you accept those rules for your address. Addresses are given out first-come, first-served, and being granted an address is not a legal ruling that you are entitled to the name — disputes over who has the better right to a name are decided under the .za alternate dispute resolution regulations, not by us. If such a dispute arises we will cooperate with the process, but we cannot act as the judge.
3. Your details and the public record
Registry rules require true, current registrant details, and the registry keeps a public record of every address that can include the registrant's name and contact details — this is how the world knows the address is yours. Tell us promptly (within seven days) if your name, email or phone number changes so we can update the record. An address registered with false or outdated details can be suspended by the registry, which is outside our control.
4. What you promise about your address
- The details you gave us for the registration are true and complete.
- As far as you know, the name does not tread on someone else's trademark or business name — you chose it for your own business, in good faith.
- You will not use the address for anything unlawful — no fraud, phishing, malware or deception.
If a claim is brought against us or the registry purely because of a name you chose or how you used it, you agree to cover the reasonable costs of dealing with it. This does not apply where the problem was our fault.
5. Renewals and what happens if an address expires
Your first year is included in your package. While your monthly service is active, we renew your address for you each year at no extra charge and remind you by email. If your service ends or renewal payment ultimately fails, we will warn you before your address expires.
An expired .co.za address is not lost immediately, but the clock runs fast: after expiry there is a short grace period (currently about a week) in which it can still be renewed normally, then a redemption period in which getting it back costs an extra registry fee, and after that the address is released and anyone — including a competitor — can register it. These periods are set by the registry, not by us, so please do not ignore our expiry emails.
6. Moving an address to us
If you bring an address you already own, the move needs approval by email from the current registrant (that should be you). The move usually completes within about five days of approval and does not interrupt a working website. Your address stays yours throughout, and by moving it to us you accept this agreement for it.
7. Leaving with your address
It is your address, so you can take it elsewhere at any time. Ask us and we will unlock it and assist with the transfer to your new provider at no charge. If your website service with us has ended, we will still cooperate with a transfer request for as long as the address remains registered. If you transfer the address to a new owner, the new owner must accept the registry's rules for it.
8. When an address can be suspended
We only suspend or cancel an address in limited cases: non-payment after our warnings (section 5), false registrant details that are not corrected after we ask, a court order, or a decision under the .za dispute process. The registry can also act directly under its own rules. Where the choice is ours, we will always warn you and give you a chance to put things right first.
9. What we are not responsible for
We cannot control registry outages, registry policy or fee changes, or decisions of dispute panels, and neither we nor the registry are liable for losses caused by them. This does not cover our own gross negligence or anything else the law does not allow us to limit. If a name you asked for becomes unavailable between choosing it and paying (someone else got there first), we will help you pick an alternative, and we never charge you for an address we could not register.
10. Who registers your address
Appetite Technology (Pty) Ltd is a DiaMatrix Reseller. We are not a registrar ourselves. Your .co.za address is registered through DiaMatrix CC (trading as Domains.co.za), which is accredited by the ZA Central Registry and is the sponsoring registrar for every address we register. You can check this for any .co.za address using the registry's public lookup service, and we will confirm it whenever you ask.
11. Your rights as a registrant
Every registrant has rights and responsibilities that apply whichever company registers their address. ICANN, the body that coordinates web addresses worldwide, explains them here:
The ZA Central Registry's own policies for .za addresses are published at zarc.web.za.
12. The registry's mandatory terms
The ZA Central Registry requires every registrant agreement for a .za address to include its Registrant Agreement Mandatory Terms. Those terms form part of this agreement and apply to your address. In them, you are the "Applicant", the ZA Central Registry NPC is the "Registry", DiaMatrix CC is the "Registrar", the namespace is .co.za, and the administration sites are zarc.web.za, www.domains.co.za and appetitehost.co.za. In plain language, they say:
- Registry policies bind you. You agree to the registry's published policies for .za addresses.
- Fees. Your fees are the ones in your Appetite Host plan. If fees are not paid, the address can be withdrawn. Neither the registry nor DiaMatrix is obliged to refund fees. That does not change our own Refund Policy: if you ask within 30 days, we refund you in full.
- No guarantee of the right to a name. Addresses are given out first-come, first-served. Being granted one is not a ruling that you are entitled to the name, and neither the registry nor DiaMatrix will judge disputes about it.
- Complaints about your name. If someone produces evidence that your address violates their rights and is considering legal action, the registry may give them your name and contact details. You accept the dispute processes that apply to .za addresses and agree to be bound by their decisions.
- What you promise. Your details are accurate, complete and kept up to date; you have the right to use and register the name; to the best of your knowledge it does not infringe anyone's rights; you will not use it unlawfully (including malware, botnets, phishing, fraud or misleading people); your address will always have working name servers (we keep that running for you); and you chose the name yourself, without input from the registry or DiaMatrix. (Naya may suggest names that are free, but the final choice is always yours.)
- Indemnity (please read). You agree to cover the registry and DiaMatrix for losses and reasonable legal costs arising from a breach of those promises or from the registration or use of your address. This is a registry requirement for every .za address, not something we added.
- When an address can be withdrawn, suspended or transferred: unpaid fees; a broken promise; if you withdraw your consent below; a breach you do not fix within 14 days of written notice; to correct a registration mistake; a court order; or a dispute decision. If DiaMatrix ever lost its accreditation, the registry could move your address to another registrar.
- Your personal information. Your registration details are used by the registry and DiaMatrix to provide their services, including a public lookup (WHOIS) that can show them; included in secure backup copies (escrow) held by third parties inside and outside South Africa; passed to the registry's service providers and to any organisation that replaces it, wherever they are in the world; and, because we are a reseller, sent to DiaMatrix as sponsoring registrar.
- No liability for the registry. The registry is not liable for any damages arising from your registration, and you agree to cover it against claims relating to it.
- General. South African law applies; legal disputes with the registry go to the High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria); the registry may require changes to these terms, published on its website, which apply unless you object within 30 days (we will email you about any we are told of); the registry can rely on these terms directly; and if one term is invalid, the rest still stand.
You consent to your personal information being processed as described in this section, and you acknowledge that registering, transferring or renewing your address depends on that consent. If you withdraw it, your address may be suspended or withdrawn.
If anything in this agreement conflicts with the registry's mandatory terms, the registry's terms apply to your address. Our promises to you that go further than the registry requires — such as our Refund Policy — still stand, because they are ours to keep.
13. We confirm your email before registering
Before we register an address, or start moving one to us, we must confirm that the email address it will be registered with is really yours. After you pay, we email you a link; your address is registered as soon as you confirm. If you are signed in to your account with that same email, signing in counts as confirming it. We keep a record of each confirmation, as our agreement with DiaMatrix requires.