Makate has now returned to the High Court, launching a five-pronged assault on Elsdon\u2019s claim that he is owed a portion of the settlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makate pleaded his case on five alternative bases: alleged fraud, alleged abuse of juristic personality, agreed cancellation, breach and repudiation, and prescription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several of these arguments themselves contain alternatives for the court to consider, resulting in a somewhat legally technical case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makate\u2019s main claim was that misrepresentations induced the 7 November 2011 funding agreement and subsequent nomination of Black Rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He alleged that the late Christiaan Schoeman, Elsdon, and another personal friend and business associate of theirs represented that Black Rock could fund the Please Call Me litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That included claiming that Black Rock had the financial means, legal standing, and administrative capacity to meet its obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These obligations included funding legal costs, depositing funds with his attorneys when required, and indemnifying him against adverse cost orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makate alleged these representations were false, saying Black Rock was not in the business of litigation funding and lacked the means to perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He further alleged that Black Rock never had assets, never traded, failed to submit annual returns in the British Virgin Islands, and failed to keep proper accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makate claimed that, had these alleged facts been disclosed, he would not have signed the funding agreement or accepted Black Rock\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also seeks to have the arbitration clause declared void, arguing that it formed part of the same allegedly tainted agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Black Rock and Elsdon previously argued that they had funded Makate\u2019s initial litigation against Vodacom and remained entitled to 40% of his settlement proceeds, per the original agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makate disputed this and alleged that, even if the court did not find in favour of his fraud allegations, Black Rock failed to perform its obligations under the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the papers, Makate said Black Rock failed to fund the litigation, failed to indemnify him against several adverse cost orders, and failed to pay a R4-million advance after his 2016 Constitutional Court win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five-pronged attack<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Nkosana-Kenneth-Makate-giving-SABC-interview.jpg\")
Nkosana Kenneth Makate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMakate\u2019s first claim asked the court to declare the funding agreement and nomination agreement void ab initio<\/em>, meaning void from the outset, due to the alleged fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHis second claim relies on section 20(9) of the Companies Act, which allows a court to disregard a company\u2019s separate legal personality in certain circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makate alleged that Elsdon used Black Rock as his alter ego and that its juristic personality was abused in relation to the disputed agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He asked the court to deem Black Rock not to have been a juristic person for purposes of the funding agreement, nomination agreement, and arbitration clause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His third claim was that the funding and nomination agreements were cancelled by agreement on 7 January 2015, alternatively 12 January 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makate pleaded that Schoeman accepted the cancellation after earlier demands were made regarding alleged non-performance under the funding arrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His fourth claim, pleaded in the alternative to the third, was that Black Rock breached or repudiated the agreements by failing to provide funding and indemnity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makate\u2019s fifth claim, pleaded in the alternative to the fourth, was that Black Rock\u2019s alleged right to claim 40% of the Vodacom settlement has prescribed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prescription is the legal principle governing the expiration of debts. Makate provided the court with several alternative dates and arguments for when the debt would have prescribed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His prescription argument referred to the R47-million award made by Vodacom\u2019s CEO, Shameel Joosub, on 18 January 2019 after the Constitutional Court\u2019s 2016 ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Long-running dispute<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Errol.jpg\")
Errol Elsdon, former funder of Nkosana Makate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe dispute between Makate and Elsdon centres on a funding agreement Makate signed on 7 November 2011 with Schoeman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was to finance Makate\u2019s battle against Vodacom over compensation for his \u201cBuzzing Option\u201d idea, which he proposed in a memorandum dated 21 November 2000, while working at the mobile operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vodacom said in an internal newsletter that it had developed Makate\u2019s idea into Please Call Me, allowing users without airtime to request a callback from another subscriber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MTN launched a similar service, Call Me, using a patented system invented by Ari Kahn, on 23 January 2001. Vodacom\u2019s service, also initially named Call Me, launched seven weeks later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makate ultimately settled his case against Vodacom in November 2025, ending 17 years of litigation over the Please Call Me service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The settlement amount was not disclosed, but Vodacom\u2019s market announcements pointed to a one-off earnings impact of between R353 million and R748 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Black Rock moved quickly after the settlement, filing an urgent Johannesburg High Court application in November 2025 to freeze part of the funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That application was dismissed with costs on 9 December 2025, with Judge Don Mahon finding that Black Rock had not proved Makate intended to dissipate the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Black Rock then pushed ahead with arbitration through the Pretoria Society of Advocates, which appointed Adv Greta Engelbrecht as arbitrator on 10 February 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makate refused to participate, arguing that the arbitration clause itself was tainted by the alleged fraud underlying the entire funding agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He filed an application on 25 February 2026 to suspend the arbitration and have the validity of the agreement decided by a court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Black Rock\u2019s attorneys later indicated that it would agree to stay the arbitration, subject to conditions including that Makate instituted legal action that would be designated a commercial case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilna Lubbe of Stemela & Lubbe previously told MyBroadband that Makate had consistently maintained that the matter should be adjudicated by a court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsdon denied the allegations of fraud by either him or Black Rock. He also reiterated allegations that early funds raised for Makate’s case were misappropriated by Lubbe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“R1.5 million was paid to Wilna Lubbe’s personal offshore account in the Isle of Man,” stated Elsdon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“These funds were meant to be allocated to the Please Call Me matter, but it became apparent they were diverted to a ‘friend’ of Wilna Lubbe’s.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MyBroadband contacted Lubbe and Makate for comment, but they did not provide feedback by publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Please Call Me idea-man Nkosana Kenneth Makate launched legal action aimed at defeating the claims of his former backers to 40% of his settlement with Vodacom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":646110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[102302,21003,20999,102278,102169,94239,37362,102168],"class_list":["post-646107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cellular","tag-black-rock","tag-chris-schoeman","tag-errol-elsdon","tag-nkosana-kenneth-makate","tag-raining-men-trade","tag-stemela-and-lubbe","tag-sterling-rand","tag-wilna-lubbe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646107"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646107"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":652577,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646107\/revisions\/652577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Makate\u2019s first claim asked the court to declare the funding agreement and nomination agreement void ab initio<\/em>, meaning void from the outset, due to the alleged fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His second claim relies on section 20(9) of the Companies Act, which allows a court to disregard a company\u2019s separate legal personality in certain circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Makate alleged that Elsdon used Black Rock as his alter ego and that its juristic personality was abused in relation to the disputed agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He asked the court to deem Black Rock not to have been a juristic person for purposes of the funding agreement, nomination agreement, and arbitration clause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His third claim was that the funding and nomination agreements were cancelled by agreement on 7 January 2015, alternatively 12 January 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Makate pleaded that Schoeman accepted the cancellation after earlier demands were made regarding alleged non-performance under the funding arrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His fourth claim, pleaded in the alternative to the third, was that Black Rock breached or repudiated the agreements by failing to provide funding and indemnity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Makate\u2019s fifth claim, pleaded in the alternative to the fourth, was that Black Rock\u2019s alleged right to claim 40% of the Vodacom settlement has prescribed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prescription is the legal principle governing the expiration of debts. Makate provided the court with several alternative dates and arguments for when the debt would have prescribed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His prescription argument referred to the R47-million award made by Vodacom\u2019s CEO, Shameel Joosub, on 18 January 2019 after the Constitutional Court\u2019s 2016 ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dispute between Makate and Elsdon centres on a funding agreement Makate signed on 7 November 2011 with Schoeman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was to finance Makate\u2019s battle against Vodacom over compensation for his \u201cBuzzing Option\u201d idea, which he proposed in a memorandum dated 21 November 2000, while working at the mobile operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vodacom said in an internal newsletter that it had developed Makate\u2019s idea into Please Call Me, allowing users without airtime to request a callback from another subscriber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MTN launched a similar service, Call Me, using a patented system invented by Ari Kahn, on 23 January 2001. Vodacom\u2019s service, also initially named Call Me, launched seven weeks later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Makate ultimately settled his case against Vodacom in November 2025, ending 17 years of litigation over the Please Call Me service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The settlement amount was not disclosed, but Vodacom\u2019s market announcements pointed to a one-off earnings impact of between R353 million and R748 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Black Rock moved quickly after the settlement, filing an urgent Johannesburg High Court application in November 2025 to freeze part of the funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That application was dismissed with costs on 9 December 2025, with Judge Don Mahon finding that Black Rock had not proved Makate intended to dissipate the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Black Rock then pushed ahead with arbitration through the Pretoria Society of Advocates, which appointed Adv Greta Engelbrecht as arbitrator on 10 February 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Makate refused to participate, arguing that the arbitration clause itself was tainted by the alleged fraud underlying the entire funding agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He filed an application on 25 February 2026 to suspend the arbitration and have the validity of the agreement decided by a court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Black Rock\u2019s attorneys later indicated that it would agree to stay the arbitration, subject to conditions including that Makate instituted legal action that would be designated a commercial case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wilna Lubbe of Stemela & Lubbe previously told MyBroadband that Makate had consistently maintained that the matter should be adjudicated by a court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elsdon denied the allegations of fraud by either him or Black Rock. He also reiterated allegations that early funds raised for Makate’s case were misappropriated by Lubbe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “R1.5 million was paid to Wilna Lubbe’s personal offshore account in the Isle of Man,” stated Elsdon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “These funds were meant to be allocated to the Please Call Me matter, but it became apparent they were diverted to a ‘friend’ of Wilna Lubbe’s.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n MyBroadband contacted Lubbe and Makate for comment, but they did not provide feedback by publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Please Call Me idea-man Nkosana Kenneth Makate launched legal action aimed at defeating the claims of his former backers to 40% of his settlement with Vodacom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":646110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[102302,21003,20999,102278,102169,94239,37362,102168],"class_list":["post-646107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cellular","tag-black-rock","tag-chris-schoeman","tag-errol-elsdon","tag-nkosana-kenneth-makate","tag-raining-men-trade","tag-stemela-and-lubbe","tag-sterling-rand","tag-wilna-lubbe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646107"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646107"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":652577,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646107\/revisions\/652577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Long-running dispute<\/h2>\n\n\n\n