Who we are
Home Affairs Guide (homeaffairsguide.co.za) is an independent information website about South African Department of Home Affairs services. It is not affiliated with the Department. We are the responsible party for personal information collected through this site, and this policy explains how we handle it under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
What we collect
You do not need an account to read our guides, and we do not ask for personal details to use them.
If you contact us, we receive your name, email address and message. Please do not send ID numbers, passport numbers or copies of documents. We do not need them.
When you visit, our server and analytics tools record your IP address, device and browser type, the pages you view, how long you stay and the page that sent you here.
Cookies and analytics
We use Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity to see which guides people read and where they leave. These tools set cookies and record how visitors use pages, such as clicks and scrolling. We use the results in aggregate and do not use them to identify you. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings.
Why we use this information
- To reply to your messages.
- To keep the site secure and working.
- To understand which guides help readers and improve them.
Who we share it with
We do not sell personal information. We share it only with service providers that help run the site, such as our web host, email provider and the analytics tools above, and where the law requires it. Some of these providers process data outside South Africa.
External links
Our guides link to official government websites and other third-party sites. We do not control them, and this policy does not cover them. Read their privacy policies before you share personal information there.
How long we keep it
We keep messages for as long as we need to answer them, then delete them. Analytics data stays for the period set in each tool.
How we protect it
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures, including secure HTTPS connections. No online service is completely secure.
Your rights
Under POPIA you can ask what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, and object to how we use it. Contact us through the Contact page. If you are unhappy with our response, you can complain to the Information Regulator at inforegulator.org.za.
Children
This site is written for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Changes to this policy
We will update this page when our practices change. Last updated: 5 October 2026.