Acceptable Use Policy

1. Prohibited Content

You may not use our services to host, transmit, distribute, or store:

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or any content sexualising minors
• Content promoting or facilitating violence, terrorism, or extremism
• Defamatory, harassing, or discriminatory content
• Content that infringes intellectual property rights
• Malware, viruses, spyware, ransomware, or any malicious code
• Unlicensed copyrighted material (piracy sites, warez)
• Content that violates any applicable South African or international law

2. Prohibited Activities

You may not use our services to:

• Spam: Send unsolicited bulk email (spam) or operate email harvesting tools
• Phishing: Host fake login pages, impersonation sites, or social engineering attacks
• DDoS: Launch or participate in distributed denial-of-service attacks
• Hacking: Attempt to gain unauthorised access to other systems or networks
• Cryptocurrency mining: Mine cryptocurrency using our shared server resources
• Open proxies: Operate open mail relays, proxy servers, or VPN exit nodes
• Resource abuse: Consume excessive server resources that degrade service for other clients
• IRC/Bots: Run IRC bots, game servers, or automated scripts that place excessive load on shared hosting

3. Email Usage

Business email accounts provided with hosting are for legitimate business communication only:

• Bulk email campaigns must be sent through a dedicated email marketing platform (e.g. Mailchimp, SendGrid) — not through hosting email accounts
• You are responsible for maintaining your email reputation and SPF/DKIM records
• Accounts generating spam complaints may be suspended to protect shared IP reputation

4. Resource Usage on Shared Hosting

Shared hosting plans are designed for standard website workloads. The following are not permitted on shared hosting:

• Video streaming platforms or large media file distribution
• File hosting or storage services open to the public
• Applications generating sustained high CPU or memory usage
• Backup storage using hosting space as a remote backup destination

5. Domain Names

Domain names registered through Sankofa Hosting must comply with the policies of the relevant registry (e.g. ZACR for .co.za, ICANN for .com). You may not register domains for cybersquatting, typosquatting, or trademark infringement purposes.

6. Compliance with South African Law

Your use of our services must comply with all applicable South African legislation, including but not limited to:

• Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (ECT Act)
• Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA)
• Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020
• Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008

7. Reporting Abuse

If you become aware of any abuse of our services or content hosted on our infrastructure that violates this AUP, please report it to:

Email: abuse@sankohost.com

We take abuse reports seriously and will investigate all complaints within 24–48 hours.

8. Enforcement

Violations of this AUP may result in:

• Warning notice via email
• Temporary suspension of affected services
• Permanent termination of account without refund
• Referral to law enforcement where criminal activity is suspected

We reserve the right to act immediately and without prior notice where the violation poses a risk to other clients, our infrastructure, or third parties.