• Latest
  • All
  • How To
Vodacom please call me case

Please Call Me Inventor Wins 2 Decade Battle for Compensation

February 7, 2024
kenya-parliament

Parliament Invites Public Feedback on Virtual Asset Bill 2025

May 30, 2025
ConnectedAfrica2025(Day4)-meta-foondamate

Connected Africa 2025 Day 4: FoondaMate and Meta Team Up to Bring AI to Classrooms

May 29, 2025
google-veo-3

Actors and Film Crews Are Worried About Veo 3 Taking Their Jobs

May 29, 2025
iOS 26

Apple Plans Big Rename for iOS and macOS at WWDC 2025

May 29, 2025
DHgate Tablet Cases deals
University student fined for defamatory Facebook posts

University Student Fined KES 7.5 Million for Defamatory Facebook Posts

May 29, 2025
AI Africa policies database

New Platform Brings All African AI Policies Under One Database

May 28, 2025
POATE 2025

Kenya’s Tourism Sector Grows as Travel Gets Easier Across East Africa

May 28, 2025
sodium-ion battery

Researchers Develop Sodium-Ion Battery That Charges to 80% in 6 Minutes

May 27, 2025
TV Gambling Ads

Regulator Fines Stations Using Religious Shows to Push Gambling

May 27, 2025
Connected Africa Summit 2025

Connected Africa 2025 Day 2: Focus on Digital Inclusion & Cybersecurity

May 27, 2025
whatsapp chatbots

iPad Users May Finally Get a Native WhatsApp App

May 28, 2025
Connected Africa Summit

Connected Africa Summit Calls for Unified Tech Vision

May 28, 2025
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Editorial
No Result
View All Result
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Editorial
No Result
View All Result
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
No Result
View All Result

Please Call Me Inventor Wins 2 Decade Battle for Compensation

Sakwa Kombo by Sakwa Kombo
February 7, 2024
in News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
273
0
Vodacom please call me case

The “Please Call Me” function found on Vodacom-linked networks in 32 countries has been subject to a court battle for over 2 decades. Users of the service including those in Kenya use it notify the message recipients to call them back.

Mr. Nkosana Makate, the inventor of the feature took Vodacom to court as he believed the telecommunication giant short changed him. In 2022, a South African Court ordered the company to pay the inventor 5 per cent of the total voice revenue generated by the product over the past 20 years. However, Vodacom, which owns 35% stake of Safaricom PLC appealed the ruling.

Supreme Court Ruling

Yesterday, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed the appeal by Vodacom. The court ruled in favour of Kenneth Nkosana Makate. Judge of the Appeal Court, B C Mocumie wrote ” the applicant is entitled to be paid 5% to 7.5% of the total revenue of the PCM product from March 2001 to date of judgment by the Second Respondent, together with the mora interest thereon“.

Basically, Mr. Makate is entitled to between 5% and 7.5% of the total voice revenue its Please Call Me product generated over 18 years, plus interest. Further, the court was not impressed by Vodacom’s behaviour in the it’s long court battle with Mr. Makate. The court found that the company had employed underhand tactics from the very beginning even before Mr. makate first took the matter to court in 2008. He had begun the process in 2007 by issuing a demand letter.

Due to the delay tactics, the court has ordered the company to bear the costs incurred during the appeal process. This includes the cost to hire both the counsels who were employed in the process. Further, the company will pay the costs for drafting of submissions, hiring experts and negotiation costs.

Please Call Me History

Mr.Makate was not involved in the development or launch of the product. As a Vodacom finance manager at the time, he had been promised a settlement for the idea. When they could not agree on a pay, the case was taken to a Constitutional Court. The court ordered Vodacom and Makate’s teams to negotiate reasonable compensation in good faith.Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub arrived at a compensation figure of $2.5 million.

This was rejected by the South African inventor who took the matter to the high court. Mr. Makate won at the High Court and this is how the matter reached the supreme court following an appeal. While Vodacom’s lawyers argued that the company would have normally ended the contract within 5 years, Makate’s lawyers argued that Please Call Me was a huge success. Therefore, they found no merit in the argument that Vodacom would’ve cancelled the hypothetical supplier contract after five years. This is why they pushed for compensation to be calculated over 20 years and the court agreed.

“This Court emphasised that it would have been an eminently un-businesslike and an unreasonable decision by the CEO not to have extended the contract it made with Makate. As such, this Court determined that the valuation was flawed and inequitable.”

Using a payment model settled on by the court, 5% of Please Call Me revenue over 2 decades could see the inventor receive approximately $ 1,061,763,400.00 compensation. This is more that what Vodacom invests in it’s Network infrastructure in South Africa.

The Telco promised to fight the Supreme Court’s ruling in favour of Makate.“Vodacom is surprised and disappointed with the judgment and will bring an application for leave to appeal before the Constitutional Court of South Africa,” the mobile operator said.

Tags: SafaricomSouth AfricaVodacom
SendShare152Tweet95
Sakwa Kombo

Sakwa Kombo

My Bio is in my written articles.

Related Posts

Kenya Safaricom share sale

Kenya Plans Mega Sale of Safaricom Shares to Raise Over a Billion Dollars

May 26, 2025
Safaricom, Airtel, Telkom lawsuit

Safaricom, Airtel, Telkom and CA Sued in Data Rollover Lawsuit

May 28, 2025
Safaricom launches revamped business loans

Safaricom Unveils Business Credit via M-PESA and Pochi Wallets

May 21, 2025
Safaricom Quickmart partnership

Safaricom 4G and 5G Routers Now Available at Quickmart Stores

May 17, 2025
Safaricom 5G for Business

How Safaricom 5G is Revolutionizing Enterprise Connectivity

May 17, 2025
Safaricom-IXAfrica-Centres-1

Safaricom Partners with iXAfrica to Build Region’s First AI-Ready Data Centre

May 17, 2025

Latest

kenya-parliament

Parliament Invites Public Feedback on Virtual Asset Bill 2025

May 30, 2025
ConnectedAfrica2025(Day4)-meta-foondamate

Connected Africa 2025 Day 4: FoondaMate and Meta Team Up to Bring AI to Classrooms

May 29, 2025
google-veo-3

Actors and Film Crews Are Worried About Veo 3 Taking Their Jobs

May 29, 2025
iOS 26

Apple Plans Big Rename for iOS and macOS at WWDC 2025

May 29, 2025
University student fined for defamatory Facebook posts

University Student Fined KES 7.5 Million for Defamatory Facebook Posts

May 29, 2025
AI Africa policies database

New Platform Brings All African AI Policies Under One Database

May 28, 2025

Best devices

budget smartwatches 2025

Best Budget Smartwatches To Buy in Kenya 2025

February 13, 2025

Best Infinix Smartphones To Buy in Kenya 2024

February 13, 2025

Best Laptops for Battery Life in 2024

August 21, 2024

Best “Battery Warrior” Smartphones To Buy in 2024

August 22, 2024

Parliament Invites Public Feedback on Virtual Asset Bill 2025

May 30, 2025

Connected Africa 2025 Day 4: FoondaMate and Meta Team Up to Bring AI to Classrooms

May 29, 2025

Techweez is a fast growing influential source of technology news, reviews and analysis by leading tech geeks in the industry.

Follow Us

Editorials

Actors and Film Crews Are Worried About Veo 3 Taking Their Jobs

Samsung QLED TVs Now Officially Certified for Real Quantum Dot Technology

Trump’s Tariffs Will Be the End of Affordable Tech

5 Ways to Prep Your Tech for Resale

The Weaponization of PDFs: How Cybercriminals Are Exploiting a Trusted Format

Introducing A Brainbox Quiz: Techweez’s Monthly Trivia Night!

More News

Kenya’s Tourism Sector Grows as Travel Gets Easier Across East Africa

Researchers Develop Sodium-Ion Battery That Charges to 80% in 6 Minutes

Regulator Fines Stations Using Religious Shows to Push Gambling

Connected Africa 2025 Day 2: Focus on Digital Inclusion & Cybersecurity

iPad Users May Finally Get a Native WhatsApp App

Connected Africa Summit Calls for Unified Tech Vision

  • Terms Of Use
  • Techweez Brand
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2024 Techweez - Palahala Media Group may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites.
A Palahala Media Group Brand. All rights reserved.
.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
Crunchy Cookies 🍪 Ahead!

Hey there! Just a heads-up: we're big fans of cookies - both the digital and edible kind! 🍪 We use our cookies and some from third parties to ensure your browsing experience on our site is smooth sailing and secure.

 

But wait, there's more! We also use cookies to gather stats and insights on how you navigate our site. It's like getting a behind-the-scenes peek at your digital adventures!

 

Don't worry, you're in control. You can adjust your cookie settings anytime to suit your preferences. Feeling curious? Dive into our Privacy Policy for all the juicy details. Happy browsing! 🚀

Functional Always active
Listen, this legal stuff is about as exciting as watching paint dry. But it basically says we only use your stuff for what you asked us to do, and nobody else gets to peek!
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
It's those sneaky cookie crumbs websites leave behind to count visitors, like counting ants at a picnic! Totally harmless, just for fun facts. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
Hey there! Just letting you know we use some fancy gizmos to remember your preferences. This way, we can show you ads that are, well, not completely bananas.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Make cookies
{title} {title} {title}
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
Crunchy Cookies 🍪 Ahead!
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
Listen, this legal stuff is about as exciting as watching paint dry. But it basically says we only use your stuff for what you asked us to do, and nobody else gets to peek!
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
It's those sneaky cookie crumbs websites leave behind to count visitors, like counting ants at a picnic! Totally harmless, just for fun facts. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
Hey there! Just letting you know we use some fancy gizmos to remember your preferences. This way, we can show you ads that are, well, not completely bananas.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Make cookies
{title} {title} {title}
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Editorial
  • Automotive
  • Entertainment

© 2024 Techweez - Palahala Media Group may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites.
A Palahala Media Group Brand. All rights reserved.
.