After almost two decades, Vodacom has settled the infamous “Please Call Me” matter with erstwhile employee Nkosana Makate through an arrangement out of court.
On Wednesday, SA’s largest mobile operator told shareholders its board had approved a settlement agreement, and the matter had been settled by the parties out of court for an undisclosed sum.
“The parties are glad that finality has been reached in this regard,” the group said.
In recent years, the fight evolved beyond whether the former Vodacom employee invented the service. Rather, legal action in the latter half of the battle was premised on how much Makate was owed for his contribution.
The question of how much Makate should be paid was the biggest bone of contention.
As such, market players are likely to seek clarity on the size of the settlement.
‘Confidential’
When approached for detail on this point, a spokesperson for the mobile operator said the “settlement is confidential”.
For now, the JSE-listed group has simply said the settlement “has been accounted for” in its interim results for the six months to end-September.
As part of the settlement process, a notice was sent to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) withdrawing Vodacom’s appeal. Additionally, a notice was sent to the high court to abandon the February 8 2022 judgment.
In February, the mobile operator filed an application for leave to appeal against the SCA judgment that it must make a new offer to Makate.
Vodacom argued in its application for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court that the SCA judgment and order were “fundamentally flawed”.
The judgment saw two possible increases to Makate’s potential payout.
The minority judgment of the SCA would have raised Makate’s compensation to about R186m, while the majority judgment would have entitled the inventor to a minimum amount of R29bn.
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