Vodacom takes a hit amid Makate Please Call Me settlement

Vodacom expects a significant earnings boost in the first half of its 2026 financial year, with earnings per share expected to jump by as much as 40%.

While still notable, this is slightly less than the up to 45% earnings jump the telecommunications giant initially expected.

On Thursday, 6 November, Vodacom released an updated trading statement outlining its expected earnings for the six months ended 30 September 2025.

The company said it now expects its earnings per share and headline earnings per share to increase by between 30% and 40%.

This came after the telecoms giant released a trading update on 31 October, where it expected slightly higher earnings growth of between 40% and 45%.

Vodacom explained that, following the 31 October announcement, it recognised a one-off cost that impacted its half-year results.

The 6 November trading update comes a day after Vodacom announced that it had settled its nearly two-decade-long dispute with Kenneth Nkosana Makate.

On 5 November, Vodacom said that its board had approved a settlement agreement, with the matter having been settled out of court on 4 November.

This settlement brought the nearly two-decade-long case to an end, with Makate and Vodacom having been in and out of court since 2008.

The dispute began when Makate, a former trainee accountant at Vodacom, proposed an idea for a prepaid mobile network service that would allow users with no airtime to request calls from users with credit.

He proposed this idea to his manager at the time, and this concept later became Vodacom’s popular “Please Call Me” product.

The problem arose when Makate claimed that Vodacom agreed to compensate him for the idea, yet the company never followed through. The telecoms giant denied ever agreeing to compensation.

This dispute became a years-long court battle, which was heard before the High Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), and the Constitutional Court.

The case was expected to continue, with dates set for another court appearance in the SCA, but Vodacom announced on 5 November that the matter had been settled out of court.

Although it did not provide any further details regarding this settlement, Vodacom said the settlement has been accounted for in its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2025.

These interim results are set to be released on or about Monday, 10 November 2025.