- Both Makate and Vodacom have submitted detailed arguments ahead of the Supreme Court of Appeal hearing in November.
- Makate says Vodacom avoided paying for decades while profiting from his idea.
- Vodacom defends its R47 million offer and calls the idea short-lived and overvalued.
Nearly 25 years after it began, the Please Call Me dispute between Nkosana Makate and Vodacom has reached another important legal stage. Both sides have now filed very different arguments with the Supreme Court of Appeal.
For Makate, Vodacom’s conduct reflects a long history of avoidance and delay. “Vodacom’s conduct over the past 25 years shows a company determined to escape paying a contractual debt to its contractual partner,” his papers state. He accuses the company of profiting from his innovation while “lying to the public by claiming its CEO had invented PCM.”
Makate’s case centres on his claim that Vodacom agreed to pay him a share of the revenue generated by his idea. While the Constitutional Court confirmed a binding contract exists, Makate maintains that the true dispute is the amount and definition of reasonable compensation owed to him.
Makate says the R47 million amount set by Vodacom’s CEO in 2016 is not reasonable or fair. He believes the CEO’s decision was flawed because it did not consider data showing how successful Please Call Me became.
According to Makate’s filing, an independent audit found that Vodacom sent about 23.6 million Please Call Me messages a day, generating nine million return calls within 24 hours. “This is the staggering success of Mr Makate’s PCM invention, which Vodacom says was worthless just after inception,” he explains in the court papers.
He claims that if his 5 percent entitlement had been properly calculated, he would be owed between R3 billion and R10 billion. “The R47 million is a fraction of the actual 5 percent share that the CEO found Mr Makate is entitled to, a fraction of the billions of rand that Vodacom has raked in since February 2001,” his submission reads.
Makate adds that Vodacom initially offered him nothing when negotiations began. “Vodacom’s first offer was zero Dollars, zero Euros, zero anything,” his papers state.
Vodacom argues the CEO acted fairly
Vodacom, in its own 146-page Heads of Argument, rejects Makate’s accusations and defends the CEO’s process as “careful, lawful and consistent with the Constitutional Court’s order.”
“Mr Makate worked for Vodacom. He came up with a brilliant idea. Vodacom used his idea to develop its ‘Please Call Me’ product,” the company states. “The Constitutional Court held that Vodacom had agreed to pay Mr Makate reasonable compensation for his idea. The CEO determined it in the amount of R47 million.”
Vodacom argues that Makate is now seeking to “rewrite the bargain” by demanding a percentage of revenue and an 18-year payout period, terms that were never agreed to. “His mandate did not say that Mr Makate was entitled to an ongoing or indefinite share of revenue,” the company says. “He is not entitled to an annuity for life.”
The company also disputes the long-term commercial value of the idea. “The idea no longer had any novelty value. It no longer had any commercial value,” Vodacom states. “It became public property, available free of charge to every cellphone network worldwide.”
Vodacom points out that MTN launched its “Call Me” service weeks before Vodacom rolled out PCM in 2001, showing that the concept had quickly become industry-wide. It maintains that the R47 million award “was based on fair assessment, not hindsight,” and describes it as “a very large award for an idea that was brilliant at conception but soon became public property and lost all market value.”
What the court must decide
The Supreme Court of Appeal must now weigh whether Vodacom’s CEO acted within his powers and whether his R47 million award meets the test of “reasonable compensation.” Makate argues the award is irrational and “patently inequitable,” while Vodacom claims it reflects a sound and lawful judgment based on 2001 realities.
If Makate succeeds, the SCA could substantially raise the amount owed to him, potentially into the billions. If he fails, the R47 million offer could stand as the final word on one of South Africa’s longest corporate legal battles.
A costly return to court
Beyond the arguments, Makate faces another bitter hurdle in the form of a R13 million legal bill from the Constitutional Court. Although he did not initiate the last round, the apex court ordered him to pay Vodacom’s costs.
“I do not agree with the awarding of costs in favor of Vodacom,” he said, adding that the ruling “will send a chilling message to a small man in litigation against giants like Vodacom.”
The new hearing is set for 18 November 2025, almost 25 years to the day since Makate first conceived the Please Call Me service. Despite the years of litigation, mounting costs, and corporate opposition, Makate remains firm. “Justice may be delayed, but our courts will not allow it to be denied,” he said.
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