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JOHANNESBURG. – Kenneth Nkosana Makate wants R29 billion from Vodacom for his Please Call Me idea – which would instantly make him the fifth richest person in South Africa – placing him among the likes of Motsepe, Oppenheimer, and Rupert.

It was recently revealed in court documents related to the ongoing Please Call Me legal battle that Nkosana Makate could stand to score R29 billion – at minimum – in compensation from Vodacom. 

This the latest ruling an a years-long legal battle between Makate and Vodacom, and much back-and-forth between the two over what is considered fair compensation for his contribution to the Please Call Me service

According to Makate, he had an idea for a free missed-call service that he shared with his superior at Vodacom in 2001. The service aimed to allow customers to get their contacts’ attention without using airtime.

Vodacom launched the service, known as Please Call Me, in March 2001, and it became widely used across South Africa.

However, while Makate was involved in the idea phase of the product, he did not have any role in patenting, developing, or implementing it. 

The invention of Please Call Me, at least in the form that reached consumers, is, in fact, not credited to Makate. 

Legal expert Ari Kahn invented and patented his ‘Please Call Me’ service for another service provider, MTN, two months before Vodacom released its product. 

Despite this, Makate launched a lengthy legal battle against Vodacom, seeking compensation for his idea.

Makate’s legal team had initially demanded R20 billion to compensate him for his idea, based on a calculation that the Please Call Me product had generated R205 billion in revenue since its implementation. 

Vodacom did not share Makate’s views on how much revenue the service generated or how much he deserved. The courts, however, have so far sided with the group’s former employee on the matter.

After being ordered to fairly compensate Makate for his idea, Vodacom initially offered him R10 million. Makate rejected this offer, and Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub’s team then constructed four models to estimate how much Makate should get, based on different scenarios.

After averaging the two models with the highest values, he came up with an offer of R47 million. However, Makate rejected this as well, and the matter again ended up in court. – Businesstech