Heather Fountain Hypnotherapy Favicon
Heather Fountain Hypnotherapy Favicon

Last updated: 26 October 2026

This manual is published under section 51 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA), as amended by the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA). It explains what records Heather Fountain Hypnotherapy keeps and how you can ask for access to them.

1. About the practice

Heather Fountain Hypnotherapy is a sole proprietorship owned by Heather Vorster, trading as Heather Fountain Hypnotherapy. It provides non-medical hypnotherapy, lay counselling and transformational coaching, in person in Howick and online. It is a private body as defined in PAIA and has no employees.

2. Contact details of the head, Information Officer and Admin Officer

Heather Vorster is the owner and head of the practice, and is its Information Officer. Derek Vorster is the Admin Officer and handles requests on her behalf. All requests under PAIA and POPIA should be sent to:

3. The Information Regulator’s guide

The Information Regulator has published a guide on how to use PAIA and POPIA, as required by section 10 of PAIA. It explains your rights and how to exercise them, and is available free of charge in any official language from the Information Regulator:

4. Records available without a formal request

5. Records kept under other laws

Where applicable, records are kept in terms of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008; the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002; the Income Tax Act, 1962; the Tax Administration Act, 2011; the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000; and the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013.

6. Categories of records held

Client records contain special personal information (such as health information) and are confidential. They will be released only to the client concerned, or as the law allows (see section 9).

7. How personal information is processed (POPIA)

Purpose: to reply to enquiries, manage bookings and payments, provide sessions safely, keep appropriate records, keep the website secure, and meet legal and tax obligations.

People whose information is held: clients and prospective clients (and, for children, their parents or guardians); website visitors and blog commenters; service providers.

Who receives the information: only service providers who process it on the practice’s behalf (website hosting and email; WooCommerce, PayFast and Yoco for bookings and payments; Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp for online sessions; Make.com for booking automation; Jetpack, Google reCAPTCHA and Wordfence for website statistics and security), and public authorities such as the South African Revenue Service or a court, where the law requires it.

Information sent outside South Africa: some of these providers may store or process information outside South Africa. This is done only as POPIA section 72 allows, as explained in the Privacy Policy.

Security measures: password-protected devices and accounts, secure (HTTPS) website connections, a security plugin on the website, access to client records limited to the practitioner, payment card details handled only by the payment providers, and secure destruction of records that are no longer needed.

8. How to request access to a record

  1. Complete Form 02: Request for Access to Record, available on the Information Regulator’s PAIA forms page or from the Information Officer on request.
  2. Send it to the Information Officer by email or to the address in section 2.
  3. Give enough detail to identify the record, and say which right you are exercising or protecting and why the record is needed for it.
  4. If you are asking on behalf of someone else, include proof that you are authorised to do so.
  5. If you cannot read or write, or have a disability, you may make the request orally and the Information Officer will help you complete the form.

Your own personal information: if you only want to know what personal information is held about you, or want it corrected or deleted, you do not need the formal PAIA procedure. Simply email info@thispractice.net; there is no charge for this.

Fees: for other requests, PAIA allows a request fee and an access fee (for copying and preparing records), at the amounts set in the PAIA Regulations. You will be told of any fee before your request is processed. No fee is charged where you are requesting your own personal information.

Timeframe: you will be told of the decision within 30 days of receiving the request. This period may be extended once, by up to 30 more days, where the law allows; you will be told if that happens and why.

9. Grounds for refusing access

PAIA requires or allows a private body to refuse access in certain cases, including where releasing the record would unreasonably disclose personal information about another person, such as another client (section 63); disclose confidential commercial information of a third party (section 64) or information supplied in confidence (section 65); endanger someone’s life or physical safety, or the security of property (section 66); disclose a record that is privileged from production in legal proceedings (section 67); or disclose commercial information of the practice that could cause it harm (section 68). Where part of a record can be released, it will be, with the protected parts removed.

10. If your request is refused

There is no internal appeal in a private body. If you are unhappy with a decision, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator within 180 days, or apply to court.

11. Availability and updates

This manual is available on this website and, free of charge, on request from the Information Officer. It will be updated whenever the information in it changes.

2026 © Heather Fountain | All rights reserved.

Terms & Conditions

|

Privacy Policy

|

PAIA Manual