Nkosana Makate, the man recognised as the inventor of Vodacom’s ‘Please Call Me’ system, made a huge stride towards getting what he is owed by the telecommunications giant. However, the uphill battle he’s trekked since 2008 is about to get steeper.
Here’s what the court ruling means
On Tuesday, roaring cheers reverberated across social media when the North Gauteng High Court determined that Makate was not only shortchanged by Vodacom, but that he was entitled to a lot more than the revenues made from the call-back system.
In 2001, Vodacom launched a free SMS prompt service, where users could send call-back requests at no cost. Of course, this freemium service came with a great benefit for the telecoms giant — ad space and call retention.
Not only did Vodacom earn billions, over the years, on advertising revenue, but the call-back service increased prepaid, contract and interconnect fees.
According to Makate and his attorneys, Vodacom made more than R70 billion from the ‘Please Call Me’ service he invented, and manipulating a 2019 Constitutional Court judgment, the telecoms giant was prepared to rip off the 45-year-old with a R47 million payment.
Makate refused to bite the bullet and on Tuesday, his efforts paid off. The North Gauteng High Court ruled that Vodacom’s offer of R47 million was a smack in the face and, in fact, Makate was due 5% of all revenues made by the telecoms giant from the ‘Please Call Me’ service between March 2001 and March 2021.
Moreover, the court determined that the 45-year-old was also entitled to 27% of revenues made from phone calls prompted by the call-back service.
Vodacom prepares to take Nkosana Makate to appeals court
However, Vodacom has the time and all the money in the world to delay justice, unfortunately.
While the court instructed the telecoms CEO Shameel Joosub to finalise the determination of the monies owed to Makate within a month of the order, attorneys representing Vodacom have made it clear that they have every intention of appealing the judgment.
“Vodacom remains of the view its negotiations with Mr Makate were held in good faith, as determined in the order of the Constitutional Court issued on 26 April 2016,” the telecoms noted in a statement that followed the ruling.
Makate has been at loggerheads with Vodacom since 2008, and by the looks of it, there is still a long way to go before he reaches a fitting settlement.