Biggest lie in the Vodacom Please Call Me battle

The biggest lie perpetuated in the ongoing Vodacom Please Call Me legal battle is that Nkosana Makate invented the service.

The true inventor of Please Call Me is legal expert Ari Kahn, who conceived the idea before Makate and patented it on behalf of MTN.

However, the falsehood that Makate invented “Please Call Me” has been so widely published that numerous media outlets and commentators quote it as fact.

To understand the debacle, it is important to go back to 21 November 2000 when Makate shared his “buzzing option” idea with Vodacom.

The idea was for Vodacom subscribers who have run out of airtime to “buzz” another number and receive a return call.

Makate said people without airtime “should be able to at least dial, and the receiving phone should ring and register a missed call”.

“The other caller will, in turn, notice a missed call and call back the original caller who is without airtime,” his original memo stated.

This was a good idea, without a doubt. Makate should be credited with the idea and for sharing it with Vodacom.

However, it was not an invention. His idea was a starting point, while an invention is the end result of bringing that idea to life.

The true Please Call Me inventor, Ari Kahn, explained that Makate’s proposal was not technically possible at the time, since a call could only mature to a ringing state if the user had credit.

This means that the proposal did not progress beyond an idea and could not be patented.

Kahn highlighted that inventions are required by law to be reduced to practice, which was not the case with Makate’s idea.

It is also important to note that Makate was not involved in the development of the Please Call Me service.

Kahn added that Makate’s proposal was completely different from the Please Call Me service that Vodacom had implemented.

“Makate’s idea did not even remotely resemble the Please Call Me messaging system which Vodacom launched,” said Kahn.

In comparison, Ari Kahn conceived the ‘Call Me’ idea before Makate and patented the service, which confirmed his status as its inventor.

The table below provides a timeline of the Please Call Me events in 2000 and 2001, which is at the centre of the legal battle.

Constitutional Court battle

This week, the 16-year legal battle between Vodacom and Makate continued in the Constitutional Court.

The difference between an idea and an invention and product took centre stage, with Vodacom highlighting that Makate’s Buzz proposal was just an idea.

In previous legal documents, Makate’s team stated that Vodacom had earned billions from “Makate’s invention”. Vodacom disputed this claim.

Advocate Wim Trengove, who represents Vodacom, credited Makate for a ‘brilliant idea’. However, he explained that it was nothing more than an idea.

He said it was important to establish how much value Vodacom derived from Makate’s idea and separated the idea from the Please Call Me service.

Kahn previously said that Vodacom would have launched Please Call Me whether Makate shared his idea with the operator or not.

“Vodacom did not benefit one iota from Makate’s contribution. They benefited solely because MTN chose not to enforce its rights at the time,” it said.

Kahn was referring to MTN holding a patent for Please Call Me, which it could have enforced to prevent Vodacom from launching the service.

Vodacom’s arguments aligned with Kahn’s view that Makate did not invent Please Call Me, which could have entitled him to a significant reward.

However, Makate’s legal team hit back, saying Vodacom celebrated his idea as brilliant and revolutionary.

Advocate Stuart Scott, who represents Makate, told the court that Vodacom has been making billions from Makate’s idea without paying him a cent.

He argued that Vodacom had made an about-turn, moving from crediting Makate for a great idea to not compensating him for the idea.

Scott said Makate, who shared his idea with Vodacom when he was 24, is still waiting for his compensation 24 years later.