Makate and Vodacom settled the matter after it was due to be reheard in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on 18 November 2025, after the Constitutional Court declared a mistrial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vodacom had initially approached the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling in favour of Makate delivered by the High Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the SCA ruled in favour of Makate and substituted the High Court ruling with its own, stating that Vodacom must pay the Please Call Me idea-man 5%\u20137.5% revenue share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also ruled that Vodacom must use Makate\u2019s models to calculate the appropriate compensation amount and must add interest over the period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vodacom approached the Constitutional Court to challenge the SCA\u2019s ruling, arguing that the judges concurring with the majority judgment had failed to consider critical evidence, denying its right to a fair trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mobile operator also argued that the SCA\u2019s order was unenforceable, as it created a range of compensation between R29 billion and R63 billion. Additionally, it was unclear how interest should be calculated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Constitutional Court found in favour of Vodacom, delivering a scathing judgment against the Supreme Court for presiding over a \u201ctotal failure of justice<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, who retired on the day he delivered the apex court\u2019s unanimous ruling, said he and his fellow judges agonised over the issues presented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Madlanga said contemplating the possibility of such total failure by a superior court was new ground within South Africa\u2019s jurisprudence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is not the first time the Please Call Me saga was before the Constitutional Court. In 2016, the court ruled that there was a verbal contract between Vodacom and Makate and that compensation was owed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Makate had approached the Constitutional Court after losing in the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dispute between Makate and Vodacom dates back to 2007, when he first sent letters of demand claiming he was promised compensation for his role in Please Call Me. He launched legal action<\/a> in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seven years prior, while working as a trainee accountant at Vodacom, he pitched the idea of a method to \u201cbuzz\u201d someone else\u2019s phone without airtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo dated 21 November 2000, Makate wrote to a superior about his idea, calling it the \u201cbuzzing option\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to an internal Vodacom newsletter, his idea was ultimately developed into Please Call Me, which launched on the Vodacom network in 2001 \u2014 almost three months after MTN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Makate was not involved in the development or launch of the product (and compelling evidence that MTN was actually the original inventor<\/a> of \u201cCall Me\u201d), he said he was promised compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n18 years of legal battles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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