The Supreme Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of “Please Call Me” initiator, and Vodacom has been ordered to pay the him up to R63 billion.
How did Kenneth Makate come up with “Please Call Me”?
According to a report by the Mail And Guardian, Kenneth Makate had the idea for the “Please Call Me” service in November of 2000. At the time his girlfriend lived and studied in the Eastern Cape and because of her financial situation, making phone calls and staying in touch was a challenge.
Makate saw this problem as an opportunity for a new service. He wondered if Vodacom could have a free services that would enable his girlfriend to ask him to give her a call when she couldn’t make the call herself. The idea needed technical execution, which Vodacom provided since Makate admitted he is not an engineer.
Vodacom swipes Kenneth Nkosana Makate’s multi-billion Idea
Makate gave his idea to his then manager who forwarded it to Phillip Geissler, Vodacom’s director of product. According to Kenneth, he and Phillip Geissler had a verbal agreement that he would be compensated for the idea. The services was launched in march of 2001 and was instantly a huge success with 140 000 users on the first day.
When it came time to receive his compensation, Kenneth Makate was disappointed to find that Vodacom actually had no intention of paying him. In fact, chief executive Alan Knott-Craig published a story in his biography claiming he had conceived the idea after witnessing two Vodacom security guards struggle to communicate with missed-calls.
Supreme Court of Appeal delivers Vodacom vs Makate verdict
Makate endured 15 year long battle trying to get his deserved compensation. After going to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) and following Phillip Geissler’s testimony that Makate had asked for 15%, the court ordered a negotiation between the two parties.
According to MyBroadBand, Makate’s team demanded R20 billion while Vodacom initially offered Kenneth Makate only R10 million. The negotiations reached a stalemate and Vodacom then offered R47 million which was rejected by Kenneth.
In March 2024, SCA ruled that Nkosana Makate was entitled to between 5% and 7.5% of the total voice revenue generated by the Please Call Me service, including interest and to 27% of the Please Call Me messages sent on a daily basis with revenue calculated on returned calls.
The amount comes to between R29 and R63 billion and as MyBroadBand reports, if ordered to pay the maximum, Vodacom would be paying the equivalent of 1/3 of its company.
South African share how they would spend R63bn
On Twitter aka X, South Africans discussed how they would use their hypothetical R63 billion if they were in Makate’s shoes. Peeps’ fantasies ranged from property, holidays and even dates.
@Manelisi_Biya declared:
“With 63 Billion South African Rands nobody is paying for anything when I’m around. Going for groceries at Checkers? Sir, put that Xtra Savings card away, everything in this store is free today. At the BMW dealership ‘just looking’? Ma’am, you’re going home in your dream car today.”
@Mmadibuzyeng said:
“I would definitely be in a different country every two weeks”
@kay_mahapa wrote:
“My friends and family have to quit their jobs if I get R63 billion. Re bereka go ja tshelete (We work to spend money) from now on.”
@Athabzz fantasised:
“R63 Billion and I’m calling everyone from every season of I Blew It. I’m gonna give them the money again. I want to see what they’ll do this time and I will be joining Durban 47 times, Menlyn every week.”
Others had more modest dreams: