The news
- The Constitutional Court overturned the ruling of the Supreme Court of Appeal in favour of Vodacom.
- Kenneth Nkosana Makate has been ordered to pay R13 million to cover Vodacom’s legal fees.
- The case will return to the Supreme Court on November 18, 2025.
The South African Constitutional Court has ordered Kenneth Nkosana Makate to pay R13 million ($755,227), a significant portion of which will go to Vodacom to cover its legal costs in the ‘Please Call Me’ court dispute.
The decision comes after a previous Supreme Court of Appeal ruling requiring Vodacom to pay Makate between 5% and 7.5% of revenue from the Please Call Me service over the past 18 years.
However, following its loss in the Supreme Court, Vodacom sought a repeal in the Constitutional Court on the grounds that it had been denied its right to a fair ruling as the Supreme Court had failed to consider critical evidence.
The R13 million compensation is expected to cover the costs of three counsels on Vodacom’s legal team and legal expenses incurred in the course of their court appearances.
The dispute began in 2008 after Makate, who had been working as a trainee at Vodacom in 2000, claimed that he had come up with the idea for Vodacom’s Please Call Me service, which allows users to request a call when they do not have sufficient airtime.
Makate claims that the telecommunications company promised to compensate him for the idea but never did.
Since filing the lawsuit over 16 years ago, Makate has refused an offer of R47 million from Vodacom, on the basis that he is entitled to a percentage of the service’s total earnings since inception. The former employee and Vodacom were also reportedly settling the case out of court.
In agreement, the Supreme Court earlier ruled that Makate should be given a portion of the service’s earnings amounting to at least R29 billion and 27% of the voice revenue from the Please Call Me messages sent daily.
Vodacom, however, said that this would impact its operations, network investment, and coverage.
Now that the Constitutional Court recently overturned this ruling, Makate has expressed his resolve to fight the costs, as the case is set to return to the Supreme Court on November 18, 2025, to be heard before a new panel of judges.
