Terms of Service

By accessing or using the ThabangVision website and services, including equipment hire, production services, and our online booking tools, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use our services.

These terms are read together with our Privacy Policy and our Refunds, Returns and Cancellations Policy, which forms part of this agreement.

This website and all services offered on it are operated by THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd, a private company registered in the Republic of South Africa under registration number 2025/742948/07.

Registered business address: 9873 Extension 5, Soshanguve South, Gauteng, 0152, South Africa

THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd is the supplier and merchant of record for every order placed and paid for on this website. When you pay on this site, your contract is with THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd. We are responsible to you for supplying the equipment or service you paid for, and for any refund due to you under these terms.

Where equipment or a service is sourced from a verified creator or partner in our supplier network, that creator or partner is engaged by us as our supplier. They are not a party to your contract, you do not pay them, and any claim arising from your order is made against THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd.

To book, hire, or supply through the platform you need an account. You can create one with your email address, which you must confirm from the link we send you, or sign in with Google. You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential and for all activity that occurs under your account. You must provide accurate and complete information during registration.

Before your first equipment hire, before your gear or services go live on the platform, and before your first payout, we ask for a photo of your ID and a selfie of you holding it. No certified copy is needed. An AI service provider we use makes an automated comparison of the two faces, then a person reviews your submission, usually within one working day, and we email you the result. The automated comparison never decides on its own. You give a separate consent for this check before you upload anything.

By submitting verification documents you confirm that you are the person depicted in those documents and that all information provided is accurate. Fraudulent submissions result in permanent account suspension.

Verification documents are handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Please read it before submitting: it explains where your documents are stored, that automated checks are performed on them, and how long they are kept.

ThabangVision supplies professional production services and professional equipment on hire, including cameras and optics, lighting and power, grip and motion, audio, aerial support, and sound reinforcement, together with related crew and production services.

Every listing shown on the platform, whether from our own fleet or contributed by a verified creator in our supplier network, is supplied to you by THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd on the basis set out in section 2. Prices, availability, and specifications shown on the site are confirmed at the time of booking.

All prices are quoted in South African Rand (ZAR).

THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd is not registered for VAT. No VAT is added to our prices, and the price shown at checkout is the price you pay.

Orders placed on this site are paid by card at checkout. Card payments are processed by our payment provider (currently Paystack) over encrypted connections. ThabangVision does not store your full card details on our servers.

Payment is collected by THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd as principal. Funds are not held in escrow or in trust for any third party, and no part of your payment is disbursed to a third party on your behalf.

A booking is confirmed only once payment or the required deposit has been received and we have sent you a written confirmation.

Equipment may only be hired by an account that has completed identity verification. Our checkout will not accept an equipment order from an unverified account. You must be 18 years or older.

The verified account holder is the hirer and is responsible for the equipment for the entire hire period. Where you hire on behalf of a production, agency, or end client, or act as a facilitator or fixer, you remain the hirer and remain liable for payment and for the equipment, whether or not your own client settles with you.

Equipment must be booked at least 48 hours before the hire begins, so that it can be checked, charged and prepared for you. Because hires are booked by the day, this is measured to the start of your first hire day, which means the earliest date you can select is usually two to three days ahead depending on when you book. Shorter notice may be possible by arrangement, but cannot be booked online.

An online hire may run for up to 30 days, and a cart may hold up to 10 items. Longer hires are arranged directly with us. Equipment already booked for your dates cannot be double-booked, and our checkout will tell you if a conflict exists.

To protect everyone’s gear, a new account has a limit on the total replacement value of equipment it may have booked or out at the same time. We work the limit out from what we have checked; you cannot choose it. The limit is R2 000 once your email address is verified. Once you have sent your identity documents for our team to check, there is no limit on the value of equipment you may have booked or out at the same time. You may pay while the check is waiting: the dates are held for you, the equipment is handed over only once our team has approved your identity, and if it is not approved before the first day of the hire, everything you paid is refunded in full. No bank account is needed to hire; the refundable deposit is paid by card with the hire. Identity verification under this section is still required for any hire. While equipment is overdue and its return has been formally escalated, new bookings are paused until it is back; other concerns, such as an open dispute or recent late returns, may mean a member of our team must approve a booking before it goes ahead. Your first hire, and any hire that includes an item with a replacement value over R50 000, is collected in person: we check your ID, photograph the equipment with you, and you sign the rental agreement on screen. Checkout tells you your limit before you pay. For a larger hire, contact us. These limits are a risk control, not insurance, and they do not reduce your responsibility for the equipment under these Terms.

Hired equipment remains the property of its owner: THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd for our own fleet, or the supplier in our network who provides it to us. You hire it from THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd, and hiring gives you possession and use for the agreed period, and nothing more.

You undertake to:

• use each item only for its intended purpose and for the production the hire was booked for;
• allow only adequately qualified personnel to operate the equipment;
• not sub-hire, lend, sell, pledge, or part with possession of the equipment to anyone else;
• not alter, modify, service, or attempt to repair any item, including where a fault develops;
• keep the equipment under your control and supervision at all times;
• not take the equipment outside South Africa without our prior written consent;
• allow us access to inspect or recover the equipment on reasonable request.

If a fault develops during the hire, stop using the item and contact us at support@thabangvision.com so that we can arrange a replacement or a repair.

Risk in the equipment passes to you when the equipment is handed over to you or to a person acting on your behalf. From that moment until the equipment is returned and inspected, you are responsible for loss, theft, and damage however it arises, other than fair wear and tear.

Risk returns to ThabangVision only once the equipment has been physically returned and individually checked and inspected by us. Returning equipment does not by itself end your responsibility for it.

A refundable security deposit is payable on every equipment hire. The deposit is 25% of each item’s replacement value, and the amount is shown on each listing and in your cart before you pay. It is not part payment of the hire. A booking made before this version of the terms keeps the deposit shown when it was made.

You pay the whole order, the hire charge and the deposit together, by card at checkout. Checkout shows the amounts before you pay.

The deposit is refundable after the equipment is returned and inspected. It is released in full, released in part, or withheld. Deductions are made only as these terms and your rental agreement allow: late return fees under section 12, and the cost of damage or loss under section 13. A deposit paid online is refunded to the card you paid with; a deposit paid by EFT or in cash is paid back by EFT or in cash. Where any part of the deposit is withheld, we give you a written breakdown of the deduction.

Full detail on timing and process is in our Refunds, Returns and Cancellations Policy.

You choose collection or delivery at checkout.

Collection. Collect in Dainfern, Fourways, Johannesburg, at the exact place in your booking confirmation, during business hours, on the day in that confirmation. The person collecting must be the verified account holder, or someone you have nominated to us in writing beforehand.

Delivery. We deliver in our own vehicle within 100km of our collection point. The delivery fee is calculated from an estimate of the road distance to your address and the size of your order, and the exact amount is shown to you at checkout before you pay. Beyond that radius, contact us for a quote. Delivery is charged in full at checkout and is not refundable once the vehicle has been dispatched.

Equipment is collected in Dainfern, Fourways, Johannesburg, at the exact place in your booking confirmation. Our business hours are Mon–Fri: 08:00 – 18:00, Sat: 09:00 – 14:00, Sun: Closed. Collections, deliveries and returns outside these hours are by prior arrangement only, and a fee may apply.

Each item is inspected and its condition recorded with photographs both when it leaves us and when it comes back. That pair of records is what your deposit is assessed against. You are welcome to be present at either inspection, and to ask us for a copy of both records.

Equipment must be returned by the return date in your booking confirmation. After the end of that day, late returns are charged a late fee of R150 per item for each day or part of a day, up to a maximum of 14 days. The late fee for an item is recovered from that item’s security deposit and is capped at the amount of that deposit.

Where a late return causes us to fail a booking already made by another client, you are additionally liable for the cost of sourcing replacement equipment to cover that booking.

Equipment not returned by the return date is marked overdue and you will be notified. Equipment still outstanding 14 days after the return date is treated as a formal dispute and may be reported to the South African Police Service as stolen.

Accounts with three or more open disputes, or with equipment overdue by 30 days or more, are suspended, and any listings supplied by that account are removed from sale while the matter is resolved.

You must return the equipment in the same condition it was hired in, fair wear and tear excepted. You are liable for the cost of repair, or for the full replacement cost where an item is lost, stolen, or damaged beyond economic repair.

This includes missing accessories and cables, tears, scratches, cuts, burns, marks that cannot be removed, chipped or damaged glass and optics, and damage to housings and casings. Filters and optical elements are charged at current full replacement cost, which may include import duty, customs charges, and freight. We provide original supporting documents for any such claim.

Whether another person caused the damage, whether a crew member, cast member, client, or third party, does not affect your liability to us. You remain responsible, and it is for you to recover from that person.

Where an item has been discontinued by its manufacturer, it is replaced with the current equivalent model and you are liable for the difference in cost.

We notify you of any damage or shortage found on inspection and provide a written breakdown of the amount claimed. Our failure to identify damage immediately on return does not waive our claim.

Equipment that is lost, stolen, or out of service for repair cannot be hired to anyone else. Where that happens through loss, theft, or damage for which you are liable, we may in addition claim loss of earnings.

Loss of earnings is calculated as 35% of the total hire value, or 10 weeks of hire at the applicable rate, whichever is the higher.

For theft or loss, the period runs from the date the incident is reported to the South African Police Service and a case number is issued. For damage, it runs from the date the damage is reported to us until the date a repaired or replacement item is back in service.

Loss of earnings is claimed by invoice as a debt due to us. It is not deducted automatically from your deposit and it is not charged to your card without notice. Each claim is assessed on its own facts and we will discuss it with you before invoicing.

Please read this section carefully. ThabangVision does not currently carry insurance cover on equipment while it is out on hire. From the moment equipment is handed to you until it is returned and inspected, you carry the full risk of loss, theft, and damage, and you are liable for the full replacement or repair cost as set out in section 13.

We strongly advise every hirer to arrange equipment cover as part of their production insurance, and to satisfy themselves that the cover is adequate for the value of the equipment hired and for the conditions it will be used in. Production policies commonly exclude theft from an unattended vehicle, equipment left unsupervised, water damage, aerial work, and use by unqualified operators. Checking the terms of your own policy is your responsibility.

If we introduce our own cover in future, the position will be set out in this section and confirmed to you in writing before your hire begins. Until then, no cover is in place.

Production and creative service bookings are either charged by the hour, for 1 to 72 hours at the rate confirmed in your booking, or as a studio package at its fixed price.

Shoots are booked by request. A booking moves through a fixed sequence: you send your request, we confirm who will carry out the work, the date and the price, you pay, the work is carried out, and the deliverables are submitted to you.

Approval and the 7 day window. Once deliverables are submitted you have 7 days to review them and either approve them or raise an issue with us. If you do not respond within 7 days, the delivery is approved automatically and the booking is treated as complete. We remind you of this when the deliverables are sent. If something is wrong, tell us inside that window.

If a booking has been accepted but nothing is delivered within 30 days, we review it and contact you and the creator. Cancellation and refunds for service bookings are dealt with in our Refunds, Returns and Cancellations Policy.

Rights in production deliverables are dealt with in your production agreement.

This section applies if you supply equipment or services to ThabangVision as a verified creator or partner. It does not apply to you as a customer.

You supply to THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd, not to the client. We are the merchant of record on every order, we contract with the client, and we carry the client facing obligation for that order, including any refund. In return, you agree not to solicit payment directly from a client introduced through the platform for work booked through the platform.

You warrant that you own, or have the right to hire out, every item you list; that it is in safe and working condition and accurately described; and that you hold any licences or permits your services require.

Listings may be drafted, described, and priced with the assistance of our AI tools. Anything generated that way is a suggestion. It is published only once you have reviewed and confirmed it. New gear is saved as a draft and goes live only after your identity verification has passed and you have reviewed it. You remain responsible for the accuracy of your listings and rates.

Amounts due to you are paid to the bank account you register with us, once your identity verification has passed. For a service booking, we pay after our payment provider confirms the client’s payment and the client approves the work or the 7 day approval window passes. Payouts for crew requests and equipment supply are made by us by hand. On a service booking our commission is 15% of the booking price, and it is shown on every booking in your dashboard. For equipment you supply, your share is 80% of the hire fee; the security deposit is not part of the hire fee and is not shared.

Where disputes are opened against your account we may withhold payouts pending resolution. Accounts with three or more open disputes are suspended and their listings are removed from sale. We will tell you when this happens and why.

Cancellation windows, deposit release, refund timeframes, faulty or misdescribed equipment, and your cooling off rights are all set out in our Refunds, Returns and Cancellations Policy, which forms part of these terms.

In summary: if we cancel your booking, or cannot supply what you paid for, you receive a full refund of everything you paid with no deduction.

You may cancel any booking within 7 days of making it for a full refund of what you paid online, as long as the hire or shoot has not started (section 10 of the Refunds policy).

Otherwise, if you cancel an equipment hire, the refund is worked out from the notice you give, measured to the start of your first hire day, and processed automatically. More than 48 hours before, the hire charge is refunded in full; between 24 and 48 hours, half is refunded; inside 24 hours the hire charge is not refunded. A deposit you paid online comes back in full either way. Service bookings use the same scale, measured to the start of the shoot day. You are shown the exact figures before you confirm.

Nothing in these terms limits your rights under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002.

If you are unhappy with an order, a charge, or the condition of equipment, contact us first so that we can put it right. Email support@thabangvision.com with your booking reference and a description of the issue, or WhatsApp us on 063 990 5802 during business hours.

We acknowledge every complaint within 2 business days and aim to resolve it within 10 business days. If we need longer, we tell you why and give you a revised date. Our written resolution sets out the outcome and any refund or credit due to you.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you may escalate the matter in writing to hello@thabangvision.com for review by management. You keep the right to refer an unresolved complaint to the National Consumer Commission or to a court of competent jurisdiction in South Africa.

If you do not recognise a charge from ThabangVision, please contact us before raising a dispute with your bank, as most queries are resolved the same day. Where a chargeback is raised, we supply your bank and our payment provider with the booking record, the collection or delivery confirmation, the return and inspection record, and the correspondence relating to the transaction. Chargebacks raised in bad faith, where the equipment or service was supplied as agreed, may be recovered from you as a debt.

All content on this site, including text, graphics, logos, images, and software, is the property of ThabangVision or its content suppliers and is protected by copyright law. The ThabangVision name and logo are trademarks of THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd.

We are not responsible for obtaining copyright, clearances, or permissions for any material you supply to us or shoot using our equipment. That responsibility is yours.

The Ubunye AI assistant provides estimates, recommendations, and general guidance. Its answers are generated by third-party AI providers, which may include Google (Gemini and Gemma), Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI and Groq, depending on our configuration and their availability. AI generated content is informational only and is not professional advice or a binding quotation. Actual costs, availability, and specifications are confirmed in your written booking confirmation, which prevails over anything the assistant tells you.

Conversations with Ubunye are stored on our systems. See our Privacy Policy for how that data is handled.

Where we provide any form of data transfer, copying, or media handling service, we are not liable for loss of footage, data, or media however caused. Keep your own backups. Media and deliverables may be withheld until payment for the related services has been received in full.

By uploading content such as portfolio images, profile information, or listings to the platform, you grant ThabangVision a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display that content on the platform. You retain ownership of your content and may remove it at any time.

You may not create fake accounts, submit fraudulent verification documents, manipulate reviews or ratings, offer equipment you do not own or have no right to supply, or use the platform for any unlawful purpose.

To the extent permitted by law, ThabangVision is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from the use of, or inability to use, our services or website, including loss of production time, loss of profit, or the cost of a reshoot. Our liability for any claim arising from an order is limited to the amount you paid for that order.

Nothing in this section excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008.

We may update these terms from time to time. The version in force on the date you place an order applies to that order, and the current version is always available on this page. Where a change materially affects your rights, we will tell you.

These terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of South Africa. Any dispute arising under these terms is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of South Africa sitting in Johannesburg.

THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd
9873 Extension 5, Soshanguve South, Gauteng, 0152, South Africa
Registration number 2025/742948/07
WhatsApp 063 990 5802
General hello@thabangvision.com | Support support@thabangvision.com
Mon–Fri: 08:00 – 18:00 | Sat: 09:00 – 14:00 | Sun: Closed