By Dylan Bettencourt
- The Constitutional Court sided with Vodacom’s appeal and ordered a new panel of judges to reconsider Makate’s Please Call Me compensation claim.
- Nkosana Makate said he was hoping for a final ruling but remains confident the Supreme Court of Appeal will award him the billions he is demanding.
Nkosana Makate’s long legal battle with Vodacom is not over. The Constitutional Court has ruled that the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) must take another look at his case, this time with a new panel of judges.
On Thursday, the court ruled in Vodacom’s favour, agreeing to hear its appeal against the SCA’s February 2024 decision.
That ruling had dismissed Vodacom chief executive Shameel Joosub’s offer of R47-million to Makate and instead said he should get between 5% and 7.5% of all Please Call Me revenue since 2001, plus interest.
Vodacom challenged the ruling, and the ConCourt has now sent the case back to the SCA for reconsideration.
Acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga said the SCA failed to deal properly with important issues in the case, calling it “a total failure of justice.”
Makate, who invented the Please Call Me idea while working at Vodacom, said he expected a final ruling from the Constitutional Court but accepted the outcome.
“We have to abide with the court’s decision,” he said. “The SCA must now apply itself properly.”
Makate said he still believes the SCA will award him the R9.4-billion he is asking for. “I am still resilient, and I will forever be,” he said.
He also welcomed the court’s criticism of how the SCA had handled the case.
Makate first went to court in 2008. In 2016, the Constitutional Court ruled that Vodacom must pay him compensation and told both parties to negotiate a reasonable deal.
When talks collapsed, Vodacom’s CEO decided on R47-million. But Makate rejected it and went back to court, and now, after almost two decades, the fight continues.
Pictured above: Nkosana Makate.
Image source: File
