Vodacom Group Ltd. a South African telecom operator, on Thursday achieved a significant legal victory as the Constitutional Court of South Africa overturned a lower court’s judgment regarding the compensation owed to former employee Nkosana Makate for his role in developing the popular “Please Call Me” call-back service.
The apex court’s unanimous decision sets aside the Supreme Court of Appeal’s (SCA) ruling and remits the matter back to the SCA to be heard by a different panel of judges, citing “fatal shortcomings” and a failure of justice in the previous proceedings. Reuters reported.
The 17 years long legal saga, centers on Makate’s claim for substantial compensation for conceiving the “Please Call Me” idea while working as a trainee accountant for Vodacom in the early 2000s.
The service, which allows users with no airtime to send a free message requesting a call-back, has generated significant revenue for the telecommunications giant.
Specifically, the Constitutional Court stated that the SCA did not properly assess whether Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub’s determination of R47 million Rand ($2.6million) as reasonable compensation for Makate was indeed inequitable.
Furthermore, Justice Madlanga highlighted that the SCA appeared not to have considered the alternative calculation model presented by Makate, which claimed an award of R9.6 billion ($536million), despite evidence suggesting its incorrectness.
While Vodacom initially offered Makate R47 million, a sum he famously rejected as an “insult,” the SCA had previously ruled in February 2024 that Vodacom should pay Makate between 5% and 7.5% of the total voice revenue generated by the “Please Call Me” service over 18 years, plus interest.
This SCA ruling had led to estimates of compensation ranging from R29 billion ($1.6 billion) to R63 billion ($3.5billion), figures that Vodacom argued would have “devastating consequences” for the company and its stakeholders.
Vodacom had sought to overturn the SCA’s judgment, or alternatively, have the case referred back to the SCA for a fresh hearing with a new panel of judges – an outcome now granted by the Constitutional Court.
Nkosana Makate, who has tirelessly pursued his claim for fair compensation, had in earlier court papers indicated he would accept R9.4 billion. His legal team had consistently maintained that Vodacom has greatly enriched itself from his idea and should honor its debt.
The Constitutional Court’s decision means that the “Please Call Me” battle, already one of South Africa’s longest-running legal disputes, is far from over. The matter will now return to the Supreme Court of Appeal, where a new panel of judges will re-examine the evidence and arguments.
