The inventor of the “Please Call Me” messaging service, Nkosana Makate, who recently signed a confidential settlement agreement with Vodacom, has pointed out that the company that wants to claim a lion’s share of his payout has baseless claims on its demand.
Black Rock Mining is demanding Makate to pay 40% from the settlement with Vodacom that is estimated to be running into hundreds of millions of rands.
The claim comes after Vodacome announced in a Stock Exchange News Service statement on November 5 that it had reached a settlement with Makate.
However, Makate told Sunday World on Tuesday that there was no way he would give Black Rock Mining any money from his settlement.
“The claim is baseless and Black Rock Mining has never been a funder of my case. They had a matter that they withdrew from the court roll last year. This one we shall take it head on. They must go to court,” said Makate.
However on Tuesday, Sinenhlanhla Mnguni of SN Mnguni Attorneys, who represents Black Rock Mining, stated that his client had never withdrew from the Please Call Me case.
Mnguni said his clients did not just wake up and started demanding 40% payment after the highly publicised confidential settlement.
“My client didn’t withdraw from the case. We performed at all stages of the matter. We never withdrawn our performances in terms of the agreement.
“This matter has a long history, and it is not something that came out last week. Some of the people who were involved in the litigation process tried to remove my client from the matter,” said Mnguni.
Another court battle looming
Mnguni said that they might go to court on Thursday, however, he could not state clearly which court, stating that he was out of the country.
The settlement between Makate and Vodacom came after a lengthy legal battle that took 17 years, where he had taken the giant cellular network company to court to demand compensation for his invention that had seen millions of South Africans being able to send a message to the other end, and get to be called back.
Based on these new claims by Black Rock Mining, Makate has vowed to fight tooth and nail to protect his money.
The settlement comes after the Constitutional Court in July referred Makate’s case against Vodacom back to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
The judgment, delivered by then outgoing ConCourt Justice Mbuyiseni Madlanga, could have resulted in Makate being awarded R47-million or over R10-billion for the “Please Call Me” invention.
The Constitutional Court delivered the July judgment in favour of Vodacom during a special court sitting in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.
Madlanga said the SCA decision in February 2024 to set aside Vodacom’s offer to Makate is invalid. Madlanga said the matter between Vodacom and Makate must be remitted back to the SCA and heard again.
On November 21, 2024, Vodacom brought an application to the Constitutional Court to appeal a February 2024 SCA judgment that set aside a R47-million offer that Vodacom made to Makate six years ago in 2019.
Appeal dismissed by the SCA
Makate opposed Vodacom’s ConCourt application. He cited that he deserved to be compensated R9.4-billion by Vodacom.
The November 2024 appeal application at the Constitutional Court was heard by Chief Justice Mandisa Maya, Madlanga, and Justices Nonkosi Mhlantla, Leona Theron, Steven Majiedt, Zukisa Tshiqi, Rammaka Mathopo, Owen Rogers, and Acting Justice Rishinand Seegobin.
In February 2024, the SCA dismissed an appeal by Vodacom and ordered the company to pay Makate an amount ranging between 5% and 7.5% of the total revenue made through the “Please Call Me” service for more than 18 years.
Calculation estimations showed that Vodacom should pay Makate an amount ranging from R9-billion to R63-billion as fair compensation for his idea. But Makate intended to settle for R9.4-billion.
Previously, in 2022, the Pretoria High Court ruled that Vodacom must pay Makate more than R47-million it offered him in the long-running saga.
Vodacom, through its CEO Shameel Joosub, offered Makate R47-million for his “Please Call Me” idea but Makate rejected it.
Makate was represented by his lawyer Stuart Scott, while Vodacom was represented by Adv Wim Trengrove SC, during the November 2024 appeal application.
In November 2024, Vodacom argued that Makate cannot be entitled to up to R63-billion. Its offer to him of R47-million, now R80-million after adding interest, is fair and equitable, it said.
