Lerato

Terms of use

Version 1.1 · 27 October 2026

These terms are an agreement between you and Oceanbreeze Concepts (Pty) Ltd (company number BW00005819590), which runs Lerato ("we", "us"). By creating an account you agree to them, to the Community rules and to our Privacy notice.

1. Who can use Lerato

You must be 18 or older and living in Botswana. You may have one account. You must give your real date of birth and gender. Your gender can only be changed by contacting us.

2. Your profile and content

You are responsible for what you post. Photos must be of you, and nothing may contain nudity, sexual content, children, contact details or anyone else's private information. We check photos before they show and may remove anything that breaks the rules. You keep ownership of your photos. You let us store them and show them to other members as your settings allow, for as long as your account is open.

3. Messages and the free-message rule

  • Free members who are women may send messages without a limit.
  • Every other free member may send 3 messages to each person, over the life of the account. These never reset, including if a chat is deleted, someone is blocked, an account is deleted and made again, or a paid membership ends.
  • A message that we don't send (for example because it breaks the contact-details rule) doesn't count. A message you send and later delete still counts.
  • Gold and Platinum members may send messages without a limit while their membership is active.
  • Until you have both sent 5 messages in a chat, you can't send phone numbers, email addresses, links, social media handles or photos in that chat. This rule is the same for everyone and is there for safety.
  • Before someone accepts your message request, you can send up to 3 messages to them.

4. Gold and Platinum

  • Gold costs P49 for 30 days; Platinum costs P89 for 30 days. Prices include any taxes that apply.
  • Gold includes: unlimited messages, seeing who viewed your profile in the last 30 days, read receipts, interest and new-member search filters, and a Gold badge.
  • Platinum includes everything in Gold, plus: featured spots in search, your message requests shown first in the other person's requests, private browsing (your visits aren't shown in "Who viewed me"), and a 1-hour boost once every 7 days.
  • Memberships do not renew automatically. If you buy more time while a membership is active, the new time starts when the current time ends. If you buy Platinum during Gold, Platinum starts straight away and your remaining Gold days continue afterwards.
  • You can pay by Orange Money or FNB eWallet to the number we show, using the reference we give you. Your membership starts when we have confirmed the payment on our wallet, usually within 12 hours. You can also use a Lerato voucher code.
  • Platinum gives you featured spots in search results, shown only to members your profile matches. We share featured spots fairly among Platinum members, so we can't promise the first spot every time.
  • A paid membership doesn't verify your identity and never lets you message someone who has blocked you or who doesn't accept your messages.
  • Founding members: the first 50 members who complete their profile (confirm their email, a photo we have approved, a few lines about themselves, 3 or more interests and what they're looking for) get Platinum free for 30 days. It is given once per person, starts when it's given, doesn't renew and costs nothing.
  • Invites: for every 5 people who join through your invite link and complete their profile, you get Platinum free for 30 days, up to 6 times. It doesn't renew and costs nothing.
  • We may take back free time given to duplicate or fake accounts, or for invites to them.

5. Refunds

If we confirm a payment and you have not used any paid feature yet, you can ask for a refund within 7 days. If we suspend or close your account for breaking the rules, unused time is not refunded. If we close Lerato, we will refund unused time. Vouchers are refunded by whoever sold them to you, under their terms. Nothing in these terms takes away your rights under the Consumer Protection Act.

6. Verification

Getting a Verified tick is optional. You send us a photo of your Omang, passport or residence permit and a short live video. Our staff check them and delete them once they've decided. The tick means we checked your identity. It doesn't mean we checked your relationship status, background or intentions.

7. Safety and moderation

We may warn you, remove content, hide your profile while we look at a report, or suspend or close your account if you break these terms or the rules, or to protect members. We tell you why and you can appeal once. We may give information to the police where the law requires it or someone is in danger.

8. Staff and your messages

Your chats are private. Our staff cannot open a chat unless one of the two members in it has blocked or reported the other. When that happens, we may check that one chat for scams, fake profiles, threats or abuse.

We use what we see only to protect members: to warn, hide, suspend or remove someone who breaks these terms or the rules, and to help the police where the law requires it or someone is in danger. We never use it for advertising, never sell it, and never use it to judge anyone's private life.

Our systems also check messages automatically for signs of scams (for example asking for money); when a message is flagged, staff may see that one message, not the rest of the chat. Every time staff see a chat or a message, it is logged. The member who was blocked or reported is not told who did it.

9. Liability

We work to keep Lerato safe, but we don't check members' backgrounds and can't control how members behave on or off Lerato. Take care when you meet people (see Dating safely). As far as the law allows, we are not responsible for loss caused by other members. Our total liability to you is limited to what you paid us in the last 12 months.

10. Ending your account

You can delete your account at any time under Account → Delete account. We may close accounts that break these terms.

11. Changes and law

We may update these terms. If a change matters, we'll tell you by email or on the site before it applies. These terms are governed by the laws of Botswana.

Contact: [email protected].