Enterprise-grade operations for South African businesses
Usima gives a growing South African business one platform for its website, shop, daily operations, plans and signatures — with staff invited by role, POPIA roles written down, payments that land in your own gateway account, and audit trails on signed documents. When the catalogue is not enough, Corporate builds and hosts a custom operations system by quote.
What you get
- Team-sized plans: Navigator 1–3 people, Co-Pilot 4–10, Architect 11–70; Corporate 71+ by quote.
- Role-based staff access to Business Apps workspaces (Helpdesk, Books & Tax, Inventory, Counter, Procurement).
- POPIA: you are the responsible party, Usima is the operator; PAIA manual and data-subject rights are published.
- Security: HTTPS with HSTS, an enforcing Content-Security-Policy, customer sites isolated on a separate host with a stricter policy, and rate limits on public forms.
- Payments: your own PayFast/Yoco account; Usima subscription notifications are signature- and amount-verified before unlock.
- Usima Sign: SHA-256 document hash and an appended audit certificate on every signed PDF (standard electronic signature, ECT Act).
- Responsible disclosure: /.well-known/security.txt. Certifications only on /trust-notices once awarded.
Questions
Is Usima enterprise software or a website builder?
Both, on one account. Site Studio builds the website and shop; installable Business Apps run daily operations (Helpdesk, Books & Tax, Inventory, Counter, Procurement); staff join by role. Corporate adds a custom ERP or operations system built and hosted by Usima when a business outgrows the catalogue.
How does Usima handle POPIA?
Your business stays the responsible party for customer and staff personal information; Usima processes it as the operator for hosting. Data-subject rights run through Profile settings and the Privacy Policy, and a PAIA manual is published at /paia.
Can staff have different access levels?
Yes. Owners invite staff into a Business Apps workspace by role, so a cashier can use Counter without seeing Books & Tax. Plans are sized by team: Navigator 1–3 people, Co-Pilot 4–10, Architect 11–70, and Corporate for 71+ by quote.
Is Usima ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certified?
Not today, and Usima does not claim to be. Security and quality preparedness is described in the Privacy Policy. Any certificate that is formally awarded will be listed, dated, on /trust-notices — until then that page stays empty on purpose.
Who holds the money when my customers pay?
You do. Shops connect your own PayFast or Yoco account, so payouts go straight to you and Usima takes no cut of gateway sales. Usima subscription payments are verified by signature and amount before anything is unlocked.
Can banks, SETAs or programmes use Usima for intake?
Yes. Institutions get a workspace and reviewer desk; the institution stays the responsible party for applicant data. Lodging stays on official channels unless the institution contracts electronic intake into its own Usima inbox.