Terms of use

Educational material, not advice

Everything on this site is educational material, not advice and not an offer to buy or sell any instrument. We describe how gold (XAU/USD) trading works, how margin and pip values are calculated, and what a broker's documents say. We do not tell you what to trade, when to trade it, or how much to risk, and nothing here is a personal recommendation.

We are not a broker, a bank or a licensed adviser, and we do not hold client money. If you need advice on your own situation, speak to a licensed adviser. The regulator fact we rely on concerns the broker and not this desk: FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC, and an FxPro entity holds an FSCA licence in South Africa — check which entity your own account is opened with.

Mzansi Paper publishes gold (XAU/USD) information and does not give personal financial advice

Mzansi Paper is an information publisher about gold (XAU/USD) trading, not a financial adviser, and nothing on the site is a personal recommendation to buy or sell. Every page explains how a topic works, such as how a 0.10-lot position at 1:200 requires about $85.50 in margin, so you can understand the mechanics rather than copy a trade. We do not know your income, your rand obligations, your existing gold exposure or your risk tolerance, so we cannot tell you what is suitable for you.

Mzansi Paper is not a broker, dealer or intermediary, and it does not hold client money, execute orders or open accounts. When you fund a trading account with South African rand by local card, bank transfer or e-wallet, that transaction happens with the broker, not with us. We never take custody of your funds and we cannot place, amend or close a trade on your behalf. Any account you open is between you and the entity named in your client agreement, and that entity's terms govern the relationship.

Mzansi Paper is not a regulator, ombudsman or dispute-resolution service, and it cannot recover money, reverse a trade or rule on a complaint. If you have a dispute with a broker, the route is the broker's internal complaints process and then the relevant regulator or ombudsman named in your agreement. For South African readers, the familiar regulator is the FSCA, but the entity serving you may sit outside South Africa, so check which entity your own account is opened with before you assume a local complaints path applies.

Mzansi Paper is not a signal provider, portfolio manager or trading coach, and it does not manage money or promise outcomes. Gold (XAU/USD) moves on global drivers, and leverage up to 1:200 for retail and up to 1:500 for eligible or professional clients depending on instrument is a cap, not a target. A cap simply sets the maximum margin your broker may allow; it does not make a position safer or more likely to profit. Treat everything here as education and verify the current contract specifications with your broker before you trade.

Dated figures and affiliate links

Figures on this site are dated and must be verified with the broker before you rely on them. Broker documents change, and a leverage cap, a funding route or the entity serving South Africa can be different from what we last read. Each page carries the date of its last check, and the broker's current document outranks anything written here.

Some links on this site are affiliate links, which means your relationship is with the broker and not with us. The account, the money and the dispute are all between you and the broker, under the broker's terms and its own privacy policy. A referral fee may be paid to this desk, it costs you nothing extra, and it does not buy a rating or hide a weakness.

South African law governs these terms, and the entity you contract with may sit outside South Africa

The law that applies to your use of Mzansi Paper is the law of South Africa, and the South African courts have jurisdiction over disputes about the site, to the extent the law allows. That covers how these terms are interpreted and any claim about the content we publish. It does not govern your trading account, which is controlled by the client agreement with your broker and the law and regulator named in that agreement.

The law that applies to your trading account is not necessarily South African law, because the entity serving South Africa may be incorporated elsewhere. FxPro Markets Direct Costa Rica Latam SRL is the entity named for South Africa in the facts we hold, and FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC, and an FxPro entity holds an FSCA licence in South Africa — check which entity your own account is opened with. The FSCA is the familiar regulator for South African readers, but a local licence on one entity does not automatically cover every entity in a group.

The law that applies to funding is set by your broker and your payment provider, not by Mzansi Paper. Local cards and bank transfers in ZAR and e-wallets each carry their own rules on chargebacks, verification and currency conversion, and those rules decide what happens if a payment is reversed or delayed. We do not process payments and cannot instruct a provider to refund you.

The law that applies to these terms does not override any mandatory consumer protection you hold in your own country of residence. If you access the site from outside South Africa, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local rules that apply to you. Where a mandatory local rule conflicts with these terms, that rule prevails to the extent of the conflict.

The affiliate relationship is disclosed in full: some outbound broker links earn Mzansi Paper a commission

Mzansi Paper earns money through affiliate relationships, which means some outbound links to brokers are tracked and may pay us a commission if you open an account or meet a qualifying condition. The commission is paid by the broker, not by you, and it does not change the price you pay or the terms you receive. It does mean we have a financial interest in some of the brokers we write about, and you should weigh that when you read a broker page on this site.

The affiliate relationship does not buy a favourable mention, a rating or a place in a comparison. We do not accept payment to describe a spread, commission, swap or minimum deposit as good value, and we do not publish numbers for those costs unless the broker has given them to us. Where a cost is not stated, we explain what it consists of and what it depends on, such as the instrument, the account type and the entity holding your account.

The affiliate relationship does not make Mzansi Paper your broker, agent or fiduciary, and it does not create any duty for us to act in your financial interest. We are not party to your client agreement, we do not see your positions and we cannot influence execution, margin calls or withdrawals. Your legal relationship is with the broker entity that opens your account, and that entity's terms, not this site, govern funding in ZAR, trading and any dispute.

You can use Mzansi Paper without clicking any affiliate link, and you can reach a broker directly if you prefer. If you do click a tracked link, assume a commission may be paid to us and treat the content you read accordingly. The disclosure applies across the site, including pages about FxPro, whose South African readers should note that FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC, and an FxPro entity holds an FSCA licence in South Africa — check which entity your own account is opened with.

Limits of liability are set out in plain words: use the site at your own risk and verify before you trade

Mzansi Paper provides the site as it is and does not warrant that any page is complete, current or free of error. Gold (XAU/USD) contract specifications, margin requirements and entity details can change, and a figure such as the worked example of about $85.50 margin for a 0.10-lot position at 1:200 is an illustration, not a promise of what your broker will require. You are responsible for confirming the live terms with your broker before you place an order.

Mzansi Paper is not liable for trading losses, missed opportunities or decisions you take after reading the site. Leverage up to 1:200 for retail and up to 1:500 for eligible or professional clients depending on instrument magnifies both gains and losses, and a cap is not a setting to aim at. Losses can exceed your initial deposit in some circumstances, and no page on this site changes that risk or shifts it to us.

Mzansi Paper is not liable for the acts or omissions of any broker, payment provider or platform, including delays in ZAR funding by local card, bank transfer or e-wallet, execution failures, outages or withdrawal disputes. Those are matters between you and the provider concerned. We do not control MT4, MT5, cTrader or FxPro Edge, and we cannot reverse a trade, release a withdrawal or override a margin call.

Mzansi Paper is not liable for indirect or consequential loss arising from use of the site, to the extent the law allows that exclusion. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited, and nothing here is intended to deprive you of a statutory right you hold as a consumer. Where a limit is unenforceable, the remaining limits continue to apply, and you should read this section together with the law that applies below.

Changes to these terms are published on this page with a revised date at the top

Changes to these terms are published on this page, and the revised version takes effect when it is posted with a new date at the top. We do not send individual notices for every edit, so the date on the page is the signal that something has changed. If you continue to use Mzansi Paper after a revised version is posted, you accept the terms as revised; if you do not accept them, you should stop using the site.

Changes to these terms may cover the disclosure of the affiliate relationship, the limits of liability, the governing law or the description of what the site is and is not. We may also revise pages about gold (XAU/USD) mechanics, such as the worked example of about $85.50 margin for a 0.10-lot position at 1:200, when the underlying facts change. We do not silently rewrite a page to remove a risk warning, and we do not backdate a revision.

Changes to these terms do not apply retrospectively to a dispute that arose before the revised version was posted, unless the law requires otherwise. The version in force when the relevant event occurred is the version that governs that event. Keep a copy of the page if you need to rely on a particular version, because the current page will show only the latest revision.

Changes to these terms do not alter your broker's terms, your client agreement or any regulatory disclosure you receive from a broker. Those documents change under their own rules, and you should check them with the entity that holds your account. FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC, and an FxPro entity holds an FSCA licence in South Africa — check which entity your own account is opened with, because a change on this site cannot change which entity contracts with you.

Risk of loss

CFDs on gold carry a high risk of loss and most retail accounts lose money. Leverage magnifies both directions: at up to 1:200 for retail and up to 1:500 for eligible or professional clients depending on instrument, a small move against a position can take a large share of the margin behind it. That cap is a ceiling, not a target, and using it fully is how accounts end.

Do not trade with money you cannot afford to lose, and do not treat any figure on this site as a forecast. One standard lot of gold is 100 oz and one pip is 0.01, so the rand value of a move depends on your position size and the prevailing exchange rate. Work it out for your own account before you place anything.

Reading these terms alongside the risk warning and the dated-figures note gives the full picture

These terms sit alongside the risk warning and the dated-figures note already on the page, and together they describe the basis on which you use Mzansi Paper. The risk warning explains that trading gold (XAU/USD) with leverage up to 1:200 for retail and up to 1:500 for eligible or professional clients depending on instrument can lose money quickly. The dated-figures note explains that numbers such as the reference price near 4275.0 and the margin example are illustrations, not live quotes.

These terms do not repeat the educational-material disclaimer, the risk-of-loss warning or the dated-figures note, and you should read those sections as part of the same agreement. A figure like about $85.50 margin for a 0.10-lot position at 1:200 depends on the broker's margin rate and the prevailing price, so it can differ from what you see in your platform. Always confirm the live requirement before sizing a trade.

These terms are written for readers in South Africa and use rand where a local amount is relevant, but the instrument is priced in US dollars and your broker's conversion will apply. Local cards and bank transfers in ZAR and e-wallets are funding routes, not guarantees of speed or acceptance. FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC, and an FxPro entity holds an FSCA licence in South Africa — check which entity your own account is opened with before you rely on any local protection.

These terms do not create a client, advisory or fiduciary relationship, and no email, comment or query changes that. If you need personal advice, consult a licensed adviser who can assess your circumstances. If you need a ruling on a broker, use the complaints route in your client agreement. Mzansi Paper remains an information publisher, and the limits, law and change process above apply to every page you read here.