1. Who we are
MADWA is a women-led social enterprise operating in rural Eswatini and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, creating handcrafted products in collaboration with local artisans and weaving communities.Our website address is: https://madwa.com.
For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, “MADWA”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to the organisation responsible for operating this website.For privacy-related enquiries, please contact us at vanessa@madwa.com.
2. What personal information we collect
We collect personal information only where reasonably necessary for our business operations, communication and the functioning of our website.The information we may collect includes:
Contact information: Your name, email address, telephone number and any other details you choose to provide when contacting us.
Business information: Information about your business, organisation, retail or stockist enquiries, and professional interests where relevant to our trade relationships.
Correspondence: The content of emails and other communications you send to us.
Technical information: Certain information about your device, browser and interaction with our website may be collected automatically through website functionality, server logs or analytics tools, where applicable.
Please avoid including unnecessary sensitive or confidential personal information in your communications with us.
3. How we use your personal information
We may use personal information to:
Respond to enquiries and requests for information.
Communicate with prospective and existing stockists, trade partners and business contacts.
Provide information about our products, artisans and business activities where requested or otherwise lawfully permitted.
Operate, maintain and improve our website.Protect our website against spam, fraud, misuse and security threats.
Comply with applicable legal and regulatory obligations.
We process personal information for specific, legitimate purposes and take reasonable steps to ensure that the information collected is relevant and not excessive.
4. Contact and trade enquiries
MADWA operates primarily through trade and stockist relationships. This website is intended to provide information about our work and facilitate business enquiries, rather than process direct online purchases.
If you contact us by email, we will use the information you provide to respond to your enquiry and, where relevant, manage our business relationship with you.
We retain correspondence for as long as reasonably necessary to respond to enquiries, maintain relevant business records and meet applicable legal obligations.
Please note that email communications may pass through third-party email service providers.
5. Cookies and website technologies
Cookies are small text files that websites may store on your device to support website functionality, remember preferences or collect information about website usage.
Our website may use essential cookies or similar technologies required for its operation. Depending on the tools and services installed, it may also use analytics or other technologies to understand how visitors use the website.
Where required by applicable law, we will obtain consent before using non-essential cookies or tracking technologies.You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.
Further information about the cookies used on this website should be provided once the website's active theme, plugins and analytics configuration have been checked.
6. Analytics
We may use website analytics tools to understand general visitor behaviour, assess website performance and improve the user experience.
If analytics tools are used, they may collect information such as pages visited, approximate location, browser type, device information and interactions with the website.
Any analytics services used will be identified where appropriate, and their processing of personal information will be subject to their applicable privacy terms and the requirements of relevant data protection laws.
7. Sharing personal information
We do not sell personal information to third parties.
We may share personal information where reasonably necessary with trusted service providers who support the operation of our website or business, such as website hosting providers, email service providers, security services and analytics providers, where applicable.
We may also disclose personal information where required or authorised by law, or where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.
Where third parties process personal information on our behalf, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place.
8. Embedded content and external websites
Our website may contain links to external websites or online resources. Once you leave our website, the privacy practices of the external website will apply.
If embedded content or third-party integrations are introduced in the future, those services may collect information about your interaction with the content, subject to their own privacy policies and applicable law.
We encourage visitors to review the privacy policies of external websites before providing personal information.
9. How long we retain personal information
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including responding to enquiries, maintaining business relationships, meeting legal obligations and resolving disputes.
Retention periods may vary depending on the nature of the information and the applicable legal requirements.
When personal information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to securely delete it, destroy it or de-identify it, where appropriate and legally permissible.
10. How we protect personal information
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure account management, appropriate password practices, software updates and the use of reputable service providers. However, no method of transmitting or storing information electronically can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
If a personal information security compromise occurs, we will take appropriate steps in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
11. International transfers of personal information
Some service providers involved in operating our website or communicating with visitors may process or store information outside South Africa or Eswatini.
Where personal information is transferred across borders, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the transfer complies with applicable data protection laws and that appropriate safeguards are in place.
The countries in which information may be processed will depend on the services and providers used by the website.
12. Your privacy rights
Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to:
Request access to personal information we hold about you.
Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
Request deletion of personal information where legally permissible.
Object to certain processing of your personal information or withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
Raise a concern or lodge a complaint about the handling of your personal information.
To exercise these rights, please contact vanessa@madwa.com.
We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request. Certain information may need to be retained where required by law or where another lawful basis for retention applies.
13. Applicable data protection laws
We aim to handle personal information in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) in South Africa and, where applicable, the Data Protection Act 2022 in Eswatini.The laws applicable to a particular processing activity may depend on factors including where MADWA operates, where individuals are located, and how and where personal information is processed.
Nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to limit any rights available to individuals under applicable law.
14. Children's privacy
This website is intended for general business and trade enquiries and is not specifically directed at children. We do not knowingly collect children's personal information through the website unless there is a lawful basis to do so and any required safeguards have been met.
If you believe that a child has provided personal information to us inappropriately, please contact us so that we can assess the matter and take appropriate action.
15. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our website, business practices, service providers or applicable legal requirements.
Any updated version will be published on this page, together with the revised update date.
16. Contact us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how MADWA handles personal information, please contact:
Email: vanessa@madwa.com
Last updated: 23 October 2026