Vodacom taking Please Call Me case to Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court will hear Vodacom’s application for leave to appeal in the Please Call Me matter that has been ongoing since 2008.

Vodacom informed shareholders on Tuesday, 27 August 2024, that the Constitutional Court issued a directive that it will hear Vodacom South Africa’s application for leave to appeal in the Please Call Me matter, in tandem with its appeal against the recent Supreme Court of Appeal judgment.

This comes after years of a legal battle between Vodacom and Kenneth Nkosana Makate.

The case started when Makate, a former trainee accountant at Vodacom, brought the idea for a pre-paid mobile network service allowing users with no airtime to request calls from users with credit to his manager at the time. 

This concept later became Vodacom’s successful “Please Call Me” product.

Makate argued that Vodacom agreed to compensate him for the idea, but Vodacom disagreed. The case went to South Africa’s highest court, the Constitutional Court.

In July 2014, the Gauteng High Court ruled that Makate had proven the existence of a contract. However, Vodacom was not bound by that contract.

Makate appealed the High Court ruling, but the High Court and the SCA turned down Makate’s application for leave to appeal.

In 2016, the Constitutional Court found in Makate’s favour that an agreement existed and that Vodacom should negotiate reasonable compensation with Makate. If negotiations failed, Vodacom’s CEO Shameel Joosub would decide the amount.

Negotiations between Makate and Vodacom failed, after which Joosub offered Makate R47 million. He rejected this offer.

The case returned to court. In February 2024, the SCA ruled that Makate is entitled to 5% to 7.5% of the revenue derived from PCM over an 18-year period, starting in 2001. 

On 27 February 2024, Vodacom applied for leave to appeal the SCA judgment to the Constitutional Court, which has now been approved.