Help & FAQ

A private space to talk things through. You write what is on your mind — a bad day, a decision you cannot make, a fight with someone you love, a night when sleep will not come — and you get a considered reply straight away. It listens, helps you make sense of what is going on, and suggests one small next step. It is open 24 hours a day and it never rolls its eyes.

No. Sibona is an AI companion built on a large language model. It answers in its own words, it remembers your earlier conversations so you do not have to start over, and it will always tell you it is software if you ask. No human is reading along live.

No. Sibona is a wellbeing service. It cannot advise you about your health, it does not assess or manage any health condition, and it is not a substitute for care from a qualified health professional. If something in your body or mind worries you, please see a doctor or a clinic.

Yes. Language models sometimes get things wrong or state something with more confidence than it deserves. Treat what you read as a thoughtful opinion from a well-read stranger, not as fact or instruction. Check anything that matters — especially money, health and legal questions — with a qualified person.

18. The service is built for adults, and we ask you to confirm your age before your first message. If you are younger and things are heavy, Childline South Africa is free on 116, any hour of the day.

English. It understands South African English easily — you do not need to flatten how you speak. Other languages are on our list, not in the product yet.

Your email address, your conversations, your subscription status, and basic technical records such as the time of a request and the IP address it came from. That is what it takes to give you an account, answer you and keep the service secure.

Nobody browses them for interest. They are used to generate your replies and to run automated safety checks. A small number of our staff can access data when they have to fix a fault or answer a support request you have sent us, under a duty of confidentiality. We never sell conversations or use them to advertise to you.

Yes. Our servers and the AI model providers we use are in the European Union and the United States, so your messages are processed there. The POPI Act allows this where the receiving party is bound by safeguards comparable to South African law, and our contracts with those providers require exactly that. The full list is in the privacy notice.

Because the POPI Act treats anything about your health or state of mind as special personal information that may only be processed with your explicit consent. You tell us things like that simply by talking, so we ask you clearly, once, before your first message. You can withdraw that consent at any time — see the health-data consent.

Delete a single conversation from the chat, or your entire account from your account page. Deleting the account removes your conversations and your profile from the live service immediately and from our backups within 30 days. We keep only what the law requires us to keep, such as invoice records.

We use what your browser needs to keep you signed in, and nothing else unless you say yes. Analytics only load after you allow them in the notice at the bottom of the page; you can change your mind by clearing your site data.