Community rules and meetup disclaimer
Helderberg Social is a free, volunteer-run community for people who live in the Helderberg. Please read this before you join a group or go to a meetup. By joining a group you agree to these rules, to the terms of use, and to the way the privacy notice says your information is handled.
Contents
- We are a community, not an organiser
- You take part at your own risk
- We cannot vouch for members
- Adults only, and children at meetups
- How we treat each other
- Privacy, numbers and photographs
- Organising a meetup
- Money is between members
- Recommendations, advertising and selling
- How the groups are moderated
- Reporting a problem, and emergencies
- Limitation of liability
- Changes to these rules
1. We are a community, not an organiser
Meetups in the Helderberg Social groups are arranged by individual members. Helderberg Social, its owner and its volunteer admins do not plan, run, lead, supervise, fund, insure or inspect any meetup, activity, outing or venue posted in the groups, and are not a party to any arrangement between members.
The member who posts a meetup is its organiser. If an admin posts or leads a meetup, they do so as a member, in their own name, and not on behalf of Helderberg Social.
2. You take part at your own risk
You choose which meetups to join, and you take part at your own risk. You remain responsible for your own safety and health, your belongings, your transport, and your decisions, including whether an activity suits your fitness, experience and health. This includes sport, hiking, cycling, water and beach activities, driving, alcohol, and anything else that carries a risk of injury, loss or damage.
Some activities carry real risks: falls, heat, weather, water, traffic, wildlife and crime. Check the conditions, take what you need, tell the organiser about anything relevant, and do not take part in anything you are not able to do safely. If you are unsure, ask the organiser before you go, or do not go.
3. We cannot vouch for members
Before someone can join a vetted group, an admin checks that a real person who lives in the Helderberg is behind the number: they are asked for their name, surname, where they live and why they want to join, in a WhatsApp chat or when they create an account on the site. That is all the check is. Some groups are open: anyone with the invite link can join them, and nobody is checked on the way in. Being in an open group does not admit anyone to a vetted one. We do not see identity documents, we do not do criminal or background checks, and we cannot confirm that anyone is who they say they are, or that they are safe to meet.
Use the ordinary care you would with anyone you meet online:
- Meet in a public place the first time.
- Tell someone you trust where you are going, who with, and when you expect to be back.
- Arrange your own transport, and keep your drink with you.
- Do not share your home address, banking details or ID number with someone you do not know.
- Trust your instincts. You may leave any meetup at any time, for any reason.
- Tell an admin about anything that worries you (clause 11).
4. Adults only, and children at meetups
The groups are for adults: you must be 18 or older to join. A child may come to a meetup only with their own parent or guardian, or with an adult the parent has chosen, and only where the organiser has said that the meetup is open to children.
At every meetup, including family, school and homeschool meetups, children remain the responsibility of the parent or guardian who brought them, and must be supervised by that adult at all times. Neither Helderberg Social nor the organiser takes on the care of a child unless that organiser has agreed to it directly with the parent, beforehand, in so many words. A member who offers to look after other people's children does so in their own name, and the parent decides whether to accept.
Do not post a photograph, video, name or school of someone else's child without their parent's permission. Anything that puts a child at risk is reported to the authorities.
5. How we treat each other
Be kind, be honest, and treat every member with respect, in the groups, in private messages and at meetups. The following are not allowed, and may lead to removal without warning:
- harassment, bullying, threats, intimidation or stalking;
- hate speech, or discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language or birth;
- unwanted sexual advances, sexual content, or messages of a sexual nature that the other person did not ask for;
- scams, spam, pyramid and investment schemes, chain messages and fake news;
- claims about a person that you cannot back up, and sharing private disputes in the groups;
- anything unlawful, including drugs, weapons and stolen goods;
- pretending to be someone else, or joining on someone else's details.
Each group may also have its own rules in its description. Keep to the topic of the group you post in.
6. Privacy, numbers and photographs
In a WhatsApp group, the other members can see your phone number and your WhatsApp profile name and photo. That is how WhatsApp works, and we cannot change it. Join only if you are comfortable with that.
- Use other members' numbers only for the reason they were shared. Do not add anyone to another group, a broadcast list or a mailing list without asking them first, and do not use members' numbers to sell to them.
- Do not screenshot, forward or post anything from the groups outside the community, if it identifies a member, without that member's permission.
- Ask before you photograph or film someone at a meetup, and before you post a photo or video in which they can be recognised. Respect a no. Take a photo down when the person in it asks.
- How Helderberg Social itself handles your information, including what the Helderberg Social number reads in the groups, is in the privacy notice.
7. Organising a meetup
If you post a meetup, you are its organiser. Please:
- say clearly what, where, when, how long, how fit people need to be, what to bring, and what it costs, if anything;
- tell people about any risk that comes with it, and any requirement (a booking, a permit, an age limit, a dog-friendly venue);
- say whether children are welcome (clause 4);
- let people know as soon as you can if it moves or is cancelled.
Members should confirm the details with the organiser before they go. The organiser is not a professional guide or instructor unless they say so, and their own legal responsibilities as an organiser are theirs, not Helderberg Social's.
8. Money is between members
Helderberg Social is free. It does not charge members, collect money for meetups, hold deposits, or give refunds.
If a meetup has a cost, such as a shared dinner, a ticket, a booking or a lift share, that is an arrangement between you and the organiser or the business concerned. Ask before you pay what the money is for and what happens if the meetup is cancelled. Never pay someone you do not know in advance by a method you cannot reverse. Helderberg Social is not a party to any payment between members, and cannot recover money for you.
9. Recommendations, advertising and selling
A business, service provider, venue or product mentioned in the groups is the personal opinion of the member who mentioned it. Helderberg Social does not check, endorse or guarantee anyone recommended in the groups, and is not responsible for their work, prices or conduct. Get your own quotes and do your own checks before you pay anyone.
If you recommend or promote something you own, work for, are related to, or are paid for, say so in the same message. Advertising and selling belong only in the groups made for them, under those groups' rules. Fundraising, collections and requests for donations need an admin's agreement first.
10. How the groups are moderated
Admins are volunteers. They do their best, but they cannot read every message, cannot be on hand at all times, and cannot guarantee that a problem will be dealt with quickly. To keep the groups usable, admins and the Helderberg Social number may:
- delete a message, or remove a member, who breaks these rules or a group's own rules;
- refuse or withdraw membership of the groups;
- pass information to the police or another authority where the law requires it, or where someone may be at risk.
In some groups the Helderberg Social number checks new messages automatically for known scam and spam patterns, and may delete such a message or remove its sender. An admin is told every time, and a mistake is put right as soon as an admin sees it. If you think this happened to you by mistake, tell us (clause 11) and a person will look at it. The privacy notice explains exactly what is checked and kept.
11. Reporting a problem, and emergencies
In an emergency, do not wait for an admin. Call the national emergency number 10111 (police), 112 from a mobile phone, or 10177 (ambulance). For a mountain or sea rescue in the Western Cape, call 021 937 0300 (Wilderness Search and Rescue) or 087 094 9774 (NSRI).
To report a member, a message or a meetup, message an admin of the group privately, or use the form on the site, or email cornekruger1@gmail.com. Say what happened, when, in which group, and who was involved. We will treat the report with care and share it only as far as needed to deal with it, but we cannot promise that the person you report will not work out who reported them. A report that concerns a crime should also go to the police.
12. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent that South African law allows, Helderberg Social, its owner and its volunteer admins and moderators are not liable for any loss, damage, injury, illness, theft or death that arises from:
- taking part in, or travelling to or from, a meetup or activity arranged by a member;
- contact with another member, in the groups, in private or in person;
- anything a member posts or recommends, or any arrangement or payment between members.
This does not exclude or limit any liability that the law does not allow to be excluded or limited, including liability for gross negligence or intentional wrongdoing, and it does not take away any right you have under the Consumer Protection Act, 68 of 2008, where that Act applies. An organiser's liability for their own meetup is theirs, and this clause does not cover it.
13. Changes to these rules
We may change these rules. The version date at the top says when they last changed. A change that matters is announced in the community's WhatsApp groups before it takes effect, and earlier versions stay available on request. If you no longer agree with the rules, you can leave the groups and delete your account at any time.
Questions about these rules: cornekruger1@gmail.com. Helderberg Social is run by Corne Kruger, who is responsible for it (who we are).
Last updated 2 November 2026.