The Supreme Court had heard an appeal brought by Vodacom regarding how much compensation the mobile operator should pay Makate for his idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This comes after the parties first appeared before the Constitutional Court in 2015 after Makate had lost in the High Court and the SCA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delivering its judgment in 2016, the Constitutional Court ruled that Vodacom owed Makate compensation. However, the judges focused purely on whether there was a contract between the parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The apex court effectively disregarded the provenance of Please Call Me and ruled that a verbal contract existed, which Vodacom failed to honour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the ruling, Makate had brought an idea to Vodacom\u2019s product development team and was promised that the company would consider rewarding him if it were successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Constitutional Court directed Vodacom and Makate to negotiate reasonable compensation. Foreseeing the high probability of negotiations breaking down, it designated the Vodacom CEO as the deadlock breaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Court papers subsequently filed during the second round through the High Court and SCA revealed that Vodacom had initially offered R10 million, while Makate wanted R20 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having reached an impasse, it fell to Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub to determine compensation. He offered R47 million in 2019. Makate rejected it, calling it \u201cshocking\u201d and an \u201cinsult\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This resulted in the matter going through the High Court and SCA again, where Makate argued that Joosub\u2019s approach was unreasonable. The courts sided with Makate, and Vodacom appealed to the Constitutional Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a scathing judgment on 31 July 2025, the apex court ruled that the SCA must rehear the case with a differently constituted panel of judges because it failed in its \u201cduty of proper consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The judgment was handed down by Acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, who retired at the end of July and for whom a special sitting of the Constitutional Court was held.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Madlanga said he and his fellow judges agonised over the issues presented, as the possibility of such total failure by a superior court was new ground within South Africa\u2019s jurisprudence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a unanimous ruling, the Constitutional Court found that the SCA had failed to consider critical evidence and had erred in accepting Makate\u2019s calculations without question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vodacom, which is majority-owned by Britain\u2019s Vodafone, said it was pleased that the apex court upheld its appeal. \u201cVodacom will now review the judgment in full and take appropriate next steps,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makate has not responded to MyBroadband\u2019s request for comment. However, he reportedly said he was disappointed that the Constitutional Court had made a costs order against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that he would remain resilient. \u201cWe will go back to the SCA, and it must just re-examine the case and provide us with a judgment that will stand the test,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Big Please Call Me lie<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Missed-calls-on-smartphone.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat stood out about the media reports of this latest ruling was that most journalists called Makate the Please Call Me inventor. This is false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The true inventor of Please Call Me is programmer turned telecommunications engineer Ari Kahn, who invented and patented it while on contract to MTN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To understand the debacle around Please Call Me, one has to go back to 21 November 2000, when Makate shared his \u201cbuzzing option\u201d idea with his boss, while a trainee accountant at Vodacom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea was for Vodacom subscribers who have run out of airtime to send a missed call to another number and receive a return call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makate said people without airtime \u201cshould be able to at least dial, and the receiving phone should ring and register a missed call\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe other caller will, in turn, notice a missed call and call back the original caller who is without airtime,\u201d his original memo stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vodacom\u2019s official account is that its product development team used Makate\u2019s idea to develop what would become known as Please Call Me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 19 December 2000, former Vodacom manager Lazarus Muchenje informed Makate that Vodacom would launch a product similar to his Buzzer idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It should be noted that Please Call Me differed significantly from Makate\u2019s initial idea and that he was not involved in the development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ari Kahn, the true inventor of Please Call Me, said Makate is not the originator of the service and deserves no more than a cent<\/a> \u2014 \u201ca penny for his thoughts\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\nKahn said that Makate\u2019s Buzz idea, allowing a user without airtime to dial a phone number and give a missed call, was not technically possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He explained that a mobile call could only mature to a ringing state if the user had credit on their account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consequently, the proposal did not progress beyond an idea. Even skilled engineers at Vodacom could not reduce it to practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is why there is a clear distinction between ideas and inventions. Inventions are required by law to be reduced to practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kahn eventually built a system similar to Makate\u2019s idea, called StarZRO. However, it took almost 20 years of technological advancement and the advent of cloud computing before it could become a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
StarZRO won the GSMA\u2019s 2022 Global Mobile Award for Best Mobile Innovation for Emerging Markets in the Tech4Good category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ari Kahn is the true Please Call Me inventor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Ari-Kahn-Please-Call-me.jpg\")
Ari Kahn, Please Call Me inventor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThere is also another, even more powerful proof that Makate should not be credited as the inventor of Please Call Me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 15 November 2000, a week before Makate proposed his \u201cbuzzing option\u201d, Kahn conceived the Call Me idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kahn briefed patent attorneys on 16 November to prepare the paperwork to lodge an application for the MTN Call Me service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After MTN successfully filed for IP protection on 22 January 2001, it launched \u201cCall Me\u201d on 23 January 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seven weeks later, on 15 March 2001, Vodacom launched its competing service. It was a carbon copy of MTN\u2019s and was even identically named \u201cCall Me\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MTN notified Vodacom that it was infringing on their patent<\/a>. Despite continuing to offer the service, Vodacom changed the name to \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe well-documented timeline, which includes IP and patent filings, established prior art as Vodacom had yet to publicly disclose or launch its service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat stood out about the media reports of this latest ruling was that most journalists called Makate the Please Call Me inventor. This is false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The true inventor of Please Call Me is programmer turned telecommunications engineer Ari Kahn, who invented and patented it while on contract to MTN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To understand the debacle around Please Call Me, one has to go back to 21 November 2000, when Makate shared his \u201cbuzzing option\u201d idea with his boss, while a trainee accountant at Vodacom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea was for Vodacom subscribers who have run out of airtime to send a missed call to another number and receive a return call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makate said people without airtime \u201cshould be able to at least dial, and the receiving phone should ring and register a missed call\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe other caller will, in turn, notice a missed call and call back the original caller who is without airtime,\u201d his original memo stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vodacom\u2019s official account is that its product development team used Makate\u2019s idea to develop what would become known as Please Call Me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 19 December 2000, former Vodacom manager Lazarus Muchenje informed Makate that Vodacom would launch a product similar to his Buzzer idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It should be noted that Please Call Me differed significantly from Makate\u2019s initial idea and that he was not involved in the development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ari Kahn, the true inventor of Please Call Me, said Makate is not the originator of the service and deserves no more than a cent<\/a> \u2014 \u201ca penny for his thoughts\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kahn said that Makate\u2019s Buzz idea, allowing a user without airtime to dial a phone number and give a missed call, was not technically possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He explained that a mobile call could only mature to a ringing state if the user had credit on their account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consequently, the proposal did not progress beyond an idea. Even skilled engineers at Vodacom could not reduce it to practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why there is a clear distinction between ideas and inventions. Inventions are required by law to be reduced to practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kahn eventually built a system similar to Makate\u2019s idea, called StarZRO. However, it took almost 20 years of technological advancement and the advent of cloud computing before it could become a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n StarZRO won the GSMA\u2019s 2022 Global Mobile Award for Best Mobile Innovation for Emerging Markets in the Tech4Good category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is also another, even more powerful proof that Makate should not be credited as the inventor of Please Call Me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On 15 November 2000, a week before Makate proposed his \u201cbuzzing option\u201d, Kahn conceived the Call Me idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kahn briefed patent attorneys on 16 November to prepare the paperwork to lodge an application for the MTN Call Me service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After MTN successfully filed for IP protection on 22 January 2001, it launched \u201cCall Me\u201d on 23 January 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seven weeks later, on 15 March 2001, Vodacom launched its competing service. It was a carbon copy of MTN\u2019s and was even identically named \u201cCall Me\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MTN notified Vodacom that it was infringing on their patent<\/a>. Despite continuing to offer the service, Vodacom changed the name to \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The well-documented timeline, which includes IP and patent filings, established prior art as Vodacom had yet to publicly disclose or launch its service.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAri Kahn is the true Please Call Me inventor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n