JUST IN: Vodacom scores ConCourt win over Please Call Me inventor Nkosana Makate
The Constitutional Court (ConCourt) has ruled in favour of Vodacom, sending the legal battle with Please Call Me inventor Nkosana Makate back to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
The judgment, delivered on Thursday, relates to Vodacom's application for leave to appeal against a February 2024 SCA ruling.
The appeal, heard by the ConCourt last November, challenged the SCA's decision to overturn Vodacom's offer of R47 million in compensation to Makate, who developed the Please Call Me service that allows network users to send free callback messages.
ALSO READ: 'Please Call Me': Does your boss own your Intellectual Property?
In its ruling, the SCA ordered Vodacom to pay Makate between 5% and 7.5% of the total revenue the service generated since its launch in 2001, plus interest.
While the minority judgment of the SCA estimated the compensation to be around R186 million, the majority opinion placed Makate's potential payout between R29 billion and R63 billion.
Despite this, Makate's legal representative told the ConCourt that his client is willing to settle for R9.4 billion.
ConCourt judgment in Vodacom vs Makate case
On Thursday, outgoing Acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga delivered his final judgment from the bench, describing the nearly two-decade legal saga as 'an unending litigation'.
Madlanga highlighted that a 2016 ConCourt ruling had previously led Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub to calculate R47 million following unsuccessful negotiations between the telecommunication company and Makate.
READ MORE: Vodacom fibre deal not in public interest says competition watchdog
The judge noted Vodacom's argument that the SCA went beyond its jurisdiction by replacing the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria's initial order, in determining the amounts.
Madlanga overturned the SCA's ruling and instructed that the case be sent back to the appeal court to be reconsidered by a new panel of judges.
'The Supreme Court of Appeal failed to provide adequate reasons for its judgment and disregarded or was unaware of certain material acts and issues before it,' he ruled.
Watch the judgment below:
This is a developing story
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
15 hours ago
- IOL News
Africa's first cell and gene therapy startup raises R29 million in landmark funding round
Altera Biosciences, Africa's first dedicated cell and gene therapy startup, has secured R29 million in one of the largest pre-seed funding rounds in South African biotech history. The Cape Town-based company, co-founded by Alexandra Miszewski and Professor Michael Pepper, is developing a universal donor cell platform aimed at revolutionising transplant medicine and advancing treatments for conditions such as diabetes and cancer. The investment round was led by OneBio Venture Studio and E Squared Investments. 'This investment signals a new era for biotech in Africa,' said Pepper, who is the Director of the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Pretoria. 'Africa is the most genetically diverse continent in the world, making it a relevant setting in which to develop advanced therapies.' Miszewski explained that one of the biggest challenges in transplantation medicine is to find a suitable donor-recipient match to prevent rejection of the transplant. 'Rejection occurs when the recipient's immune system recognises the donor's cells as being foreign and mounts an immune response against the transplanted cells.' She explained that Altera is developing 'a universal donor cell platform using gene silencing technology to remove the identity markers on the donor cells that trigger immune rejection.' This, she said, will allow the recipient's body 'to accept the cells as their own, and the problem of rejection is minimised.' Miszewski, an entrepreneur with a background in medical device and biotech startups such as Equine Tendon, Regenesis Vet, and Novita Biotechnology, is a graduate of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Fellowship Entrepreneurial Programme. Pepper, who was recently named one of South Africa's top Biology and Biochemistry Scientists, said the universal donor cell platform could allow for off-the-shelf cell therapies suited for genetically diverse populations. 'Many advanced therapies have been developed with a one-size-fits-all approach, which may not be appropriate in a genetically diverse population. By building solutions from a globally diverse genetic foundation, our research has the potential to be more universally applicable from day one,' he said. While Altera has not disclosed which therapeutic areas it will pursue first due to strategic and intellectual property considerations, the company emphasised its commitment to making these technologies accessible in Africa. 'Our vision is global,' said Pepper, 'but we are deeply committed to ensuring these innovations are also accessible to patients in Africa, where access to advanced healthcare is often limited.' The success of the funding round marks a significant milestone for the continent's biotechnology sector, reflecting growing confidence in Africa's potential to contribute to global healthcare innovation. THE MERCURY
IOL News
4 days ago
- IOL News
Apex Court's surprise ruling extends Makate's Please Call Me Battle
Nqolokazi Nomvalo ss Head of Legal: Operations at Life Healthcare Group. Image: Supplied FOR nearly two decades, South Africans have watched the legal saga between Vodacom and its former employee, Nkosana Makate, unfold like a courtroom drama with no final act. The latest twist, a unanimous Constitutional Court judgment handed down on Thursday, has reignited public interest and legal debate. In a development that stunned many legal observers and defied predictions of finality, the apex court has remitted the case back to the Supreme Court of Appeal. It will now be reconsidered by a freshly constituted bench. This move injects fresh uncertainty into a saga long believed to be approaching its conclusion. But what does this mean, and why does it matter? It is important to clarify that Makate's original idea was a simple yet powerful proposition: a mobile user with no airtime should be able to 'buzz' another user, prompting them to call back. Vodacom, recognising the creativity, developed the concept into the now-famous "Please Call Me" free message. This version allowed for costless transmission and universal utility. That difference matters, especially when assessing the various compensation models, which have ranged from employee-equivalent remuneration to revenue-sharing frameworks. The Supreme Court of Appeal had previously affirmed the Gauteng High Court's decision in Makate's favour and went further, controversially substituting its own compensation formula and awarding Makate 5 to 7.5 percent of Please Call Me revenue. Vodacom challenged this ruling, arguing that the SCA overstepped its bounds as an appellate court, particularly because Makate had not lodged a cross-appeal. The Constitutional Court, being the highest court in the land, granted Vodacom leave to appeal and upheld its challenge. Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, writing for a unanimous bench in what is widely regarded as his swan judgment before retirement, agreed. The Constitutional Court held that the SCA had impermissibly ventured into terrain that required a cross-appeal and had disregarded the true issues before it. This resulted in a failure of justice, specifically a breach of Vodacom's right to a fair public hearing as guaranteed under section 34 of the Constitution. The Constitutional Court has directed that the case return to the SCA, where a different panel of judges will now consider it afresh. It marks a rare judicial reset in a case that has already passed through every major court in the country. The legal significance of this moment cannot be overstated. The Constitutional Court has reinforced the boundaries of appellate authority and revived critical scrutiny around the quantum of fair compensation. The referral order compels the SCA to take a fresh look, with a new bench and a sharper lens, at the determination originally made by Vodacom's CEO. That figure was R47 million, reached after extensive modelling and expert input. It followed a failed negotiation between Makate, who proposed R20.2 billion, and Vodacom, which offered R10 million. Makate has challenged the CEO's determination as woefully low, especially in light of the widespread success of the Please Call Me service. Beyond the courtroom, this case has come to represent the struggle for equitable recognition of intellectual contributions, especially by employees in corporate ecosystems. The 'Please Call Me' litigation has gripped the public imagination. It's not just because of the staggering figures involved. It speaks to something profoundly South African: the courage to claim one's voice and the power of innovation born in unlikely places. As the legal process restarts again, one hopes that the eventual outcome will honour not just the merits of law but the deeper values it serves—justice, fairness, and transformative equity. That would be a fitting tribute to Justice Madlanga's legacy of principled clarity and constitutional fidelity. (Nomvalo is Head of Legal: Operations at Life Healthcare Group. She began her career in corporate litigation and commercial law at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Inc. Her expertise also encompasses traditional arts, heritage preservation, transformation, and the promotion of women's and children's rights. Her views don't necessarily reflect those of the Sunday Tribune or Independent Media) SUNDAY TRIBUNE
Eyewitness News
5 days ago
- Eyewitness News
Makate believes ConCourt could've had more conclusive findings in battle with Vodacom
JOHANNESBURG - 'Please call me' inventor, Nkosana Makate, said he believes that the Constitutional Court could have come to a conclusive finding in his battle with telecommunications giant Vodacom. The apex court has remitted the matter back to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), setting aside its ruling. ALSO READ: Despite ConCourt setback, 'Please call me' inventor Makate still resilient in battle with Vodacom In a scathing judgment, the Constitutional Court pointed out that the appeals court made several errors in its adjudication of the matter, which resulted in a ruling in Makate's favour. Makate and Vodacom have been in an almost 20-year battle over what is due to Makate over the invention of the 'Please call me' product. In his final judgment before retirement, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga highlighted what he called the SCA's fatal shortcomings in that it did not make its own decision on the issues in the matter. The court has granted Vodacom leave to appeal the SCA's judgment but has also ruled that the matter should go back to the court before a different panel. "It seems to me the just and equitable remedy [77] is for the appeal to be decided on its merits by the court that ought to have decided it. More importantly, in the main, what remains for determination in the appeal are factual questions that do not ordinarily fall for determination by this court." But Makate said he was expecting a different decision. "I think the ConCourt could have finalised the matter. We still had a hearing in the high court, which they could have gone to as well, and ignored the SCA completely. They could have done that." Makate said he remains resilient and sure in his case.
