Vodacom not giving up despite Please Call Me court ruling

Mobile communications giant Vodacom are set to approach the court to appeal a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling over the Please Call Me inventor, Nkosana Makate matter. On Tuesday, the SCA determined that Makate is entitled to receive between 5% to 7.5% of the total money generated from the idea, plus interest.

This is the revenue generated over an 18-year period, from 2001 to 2019.

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Vodacom had initially offered to pay Makate R47-million, an offer he refused. In February 2022, the high court in Pretoria, Gauteng found that the company had not offered Makate sufficient compensation in settlement for his invention. It ordered that a higher settlement amount be offered.

Vodacom has now been ordered to finalise a new offer within one month of the order. Following the ruling on Tuesday, Vodacom are now heading to the Constitutional Court.

VODACOM SURPRISED BY COURT RULING ON NKOSANA MAKATE MATTER  

“Vodacom is surprised and disappointed with the judgment. [It] will bring an application for leave to appeal before the Constitutional Court of South Africa within the prescribed period,” It said in a statement on Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday the SCA dismissed Vodacom’s application for leave to appeal a previous ruling by the High Court in Pretoria. But also substituted parts of that ruling, including setting aside a R47-million determination made by Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub.

HOW THE PLEASE CALL ME CONCEPT STARTED

The Please Call Me concept started by Makate in 2001 is that a user without airtime can send a text message to another subscriber, who then calls them back.

Makate has consistently argued that Vodacom owes him a compensation of R10.2 billion. This excludes accumulated interest and all legal bills incurred since the Constitutional Court decision in 2016.

The Constitutional Court initially ordered the parties in 2016 to engage in good faith negotiations to determine reasonable compensation.

Makate has insisted for years that his negotiations with Vodacom have been anything but fair. He is requesting that the cell operator reveal all income generated by the Please Call Me idea.