1.1.1 For the purpose of this Agreement, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings assigned to them below, and cognate expressions shall have corresponding meanings:
1.1.1.1 “Administrator” means a person tasked to manage the administration of the SITA GovTech Hackathon;
1.1.1.2 “Agreement” means this SITA GovTech Hackathon Participation Agreement as envisaged and includes all documentation appended or annexed hereto and signed by the Parties;
1.1.2 “Confidential information” means, in relation to either Party any and all information which is:
1.1.2.1 lawfully not in the public domain;
1.1.2.2 may reasonably be regarded as being sensitive to the Party concerned, including in circumstances where that Party communicates such sensitivity to the other Party; and/or
1.1.2.3 by its nature or content, any information that ought reasonably to be identifiable as confidential and/or proprietary to the Party disclosing such information (‘disclosing Party’), including information regarding either Party’s business, business practices and trade secrets material to the business of the disclosing Party, which information may be furnished orally or in writing, or in any form, including in computer language and whether marked with proprietary legend or not. Such confidential information, without limiting it to such, may include details of finances, price files, contracts, earnings, volume of business, methods, systems, practices, plans and/or fee schedules.
1.1.3 “Intellectual property” means collectively the patents, copyright, trademarks, designs, models, trade names, trade secrets, confidential information and know-how of the parties whether registered or unregistered, including applications for and rights to obtain or use same;
1.1.4 “Participant” means any person who takes part in the SITA GovTech Hackathon event in terms of this Agreement;
1.1.5 “Parties” means SITA and the Participant, and “Party” will mean, as the context requires, any one of them.
1.1.6 “Person” means a natural person, juristic person or organ of state, for the purposes of this Agreement;
1.1.7 “Proprietary information” means any and all data whether of a historical, current or future nature, irrespective of whether same is stored, recorded or embodied in handwritten, printed, visual, electronic, audible or other format or medium, whether in the possession or under the control of either Party or any third party, including without limiting its ordinary meaning, all data, computer data, agreements and other documentation, programming code, codes, letters, telefaxes, telegrams, faxes, specifications, and strategic plans;
1.1.8 “SITA” means the State Information Technology Agency established in terms of the SITA Act, 1998, and registered under the Companies Act, 1973 (Act 61 of 1973) under registration number 1999/001899/30;

1.2 Registration

1.2.1 By registration in the SITA GovTech 2025 Hackathon administered by SITA (SOC) Ltd, the Participant agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions stated in this Agreement.

1.3 Participants Eligibility

1.3.1 The SITA GovTech 2025 Hackathon is open to all SMMEs in the category of EMEs registered in the Republic of South Africa.
1.3.2 Participants are required to work in teams consisting of a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 5 members.
1.3.3 To participate, teams must follow the registration process and also be able to attend a Hackathon event during the stated times and places.
1.3.4 Participants must make their own travel and accommodation arrangements and cover all associated costs and expenses.

1.4 Registration

1.4.1 To register, each team must submit one (1) team proposal via the GovTech website https://www.govtech.gov.za/ and click on the Hackathon tab on the menu.
1.4.2 Participants must submit entries for the SITA GovTech 2025 Hackathon within the advertised date and closing time. Submissions that are late, incomplete or contain inaccurate details will be disqualified. SITA may, at its absolute discretion, allow late registrations.

1.5 Prizes and awards

1.5.1 SITA will, at its absolute discretion, appoint a judging panel, and entries will be judged as per the adjudication criteria to be shared on hackathon day. If a team wins, it is solely responsible for distributing the prize among its members.
1.5.2 The prize amount is considered to be taxable income. Payment of any taxes, fees, charges or contributions related to the prizes is the sole responsibility of each Company.
1.5.3 The Hackathon prize money will be paid to the winning teams 30 days after the Hackathon event.
1.5.4 Funds will be allocated and made available to support the completion of the Pilot phase of the selected winning solution(s), subject to SITA’s approval and discretion.
1.5.5 Payment for the finalisation of the Pilot will be made in accordance with milestones defined in the project delivery plan, which will be established post-hackathon.
1.5.6 The solution realisation process will be notified in writing to Participants, and the participants of the winning solutions will be expected to be available for three full days each week for the duration of the process.

1.6 Intellectual Property Rights

1.6.1 By registration and submission of entries, Participants grant to SITA an irrevocable, perpetual, paid-up, non-exclusive, royalty-free, assignable, transferable, worldwide license to use any information contained in the Participant’s submitted solution and presentation for use by SITA in the subsequent development and deployment of viable solutions.
1.6.2 By participating in the Hackathon, participants acknowledge and accept, for all legal purposes, that:
1.6.2.1 SITA and the Participants shall hold joint ownership of the intellectual property rights in the Participants’ solutions and presentations.
1.6.2.2 Participants represent and warrant that they have permission to use Proprietary information and that it does not infringe on the intellectual property of third parties.
1.6.2.3 Permission for use of any third-party material must be submitted to SITA before or during the Hackathon. For avoidance of doubt, “proprietary information” means any and all data, whether of a historical, current or future nature, irrespective of whether same is stored, recorded or embodied in handwritten, printed, visual, electronic, audible or other format or medium, whether in the possession or under the control of either Party or any third party, including without limiting its ordinary meaning, all data, computer data, agreements and other documentation, programming code, codes, letters, telefaxes, telegrams, faxes, specifications, and strategic plans.
1.6.2.4 SITA reserves the right to request the removal of any content that may infringe any third-party intellectual property rights.

1.7 Confidential information

1.7.1 Throughout the Hackathon, the Parties may gain knowledge about each other’s business activities, products, services and/or technical expertise which may be regarded as confidential information.
1.7.2 Parties agree that they will not to divulge to any third party or sell, trade, publish, reproduce or reverse engineer any of the confidential information and not to put in use for any purpose unrelated to the collaboration, in any manner, any confidential information without the disclosing party’s prior written consent, except as provided by the exclusions specified in Clause 5.7.2 below.
1.7.3 The obligation of confidentiality shall not apply to information which:
1.7.3.1 Becomes known by third parties through no fault of the Parties hereto;
1.7.3.2 Is or becomes published otherwise than by unauthorized publication in breach of this Agreement;
1.7.3.3 Is independently developed by an employee of the recipient who has not had access to any of the confidential information disclosed to the recipient by the other Party;
1.7.3.4 Is in the public domain;
1.7.3.5 Can reasonably be demonstrated to be known to the Parties prior to disclosure under this Agreement;
1.7.3.6 Is disclosed to the Party or Parties by another party entitled to disclose the information.
1.7.3.7 The Parties hereto agree to release; or
1.7.3.8 Is required to be disclosed by law.
1.7.3.9 The Parties hereto shall take due precautions to ensure that their employees including agents or independent contractors, who have a need-to-know confidential information, undertake the above obligations of confidentiality.
1.7.3.10 Each Party may not divulge, and will ensure that any of its employees including agents or independent contractors do not divulge, to any person, other than the duly authorised representatives of the other Party and its own employees, and only if this is necessary for the proper fulfilment of the objectives of this Agreement, any confidential information arising in connection with or during the course of this Agreement without the prior written authority of the other Party.
1.7.4 Personal information will be collected upon registration on the SITA GovTech Hackathon website. Registration requires that participants supply their name and contact information. This information will be used to confirm eligibility. Once registered, participants may receive periodic communications relating to the GovTech 2025 Hackathon event.

1.8 Marketing and publicity

1.8.1 Participants agree that SITA may use the title of their entry, name, photographs and details of the expertise on the SITA Hackathon and SITA website and promotional or marketing material without compensation.
1.8.2 Participants agree that they will direct any media enquiries or enquiries from anyone looking to publish information about the GovTech Hackathon 2025 to SITA.
1.8.3 Participants understand that they may be requested to undertake media interviews in relation to the Hackathon.
1.8.4 SITA may engage in further correspondence with the winning teams should it decide to pursue the implementation of any proposed solutions. However, SITA is under no obligation to adopt or utilise any of the winning solutions for any purpose. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 5 of the Copyright Act 98 of 1978, SITA reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to collaborate with the participants whose solutions are deemed viable.

1.9 Limitation of liability

1.9.1 SITA and its sponsors and partners will not be liable for any direct, special, incidental, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages, including loss of use, data, business or profits, arising out of or in connection with a Party’s participation in the Hackathon and /or this Agreement.
1.9.2 Each Party bears the liability arising out of its own negligence, wrongful act or omission, and its own breach of this Agreement.

1.10 Disqualification

1.10.1 Any violation of the Hackathon’s terms and conditions or engagement in any misconduct may lead to the participants being disqualified from the Hackathon.