‘Please Call Me’ inventor’s decade-long duel with Vodacom
Ten years of fruitless talks and countless court dates — here is how the endless battle between Nkosana Makate and his former employer unfolded
Former Vodacom employee Nkosana Makate and the mobile network service have been in a court battle over the invention of the Please Call Me function for more than 10 years.While working as a junior accountant at the company in 2000, Makate approached his supervisor with the idea of creating a service that would allow users to contact people without using airtime. Vodacom used the idea and Makate was promised his share of the fortune when the service kicked off in 2001. An initial development plan for Please Call Me in 2001 said Vodacom could make $23m a day from the service. Makate took the matter to the high court in 2008 after sending letters of demand to Vodacom. Here’s a timeline of the battle between the network giant and Makate.The matter is heard in the South Gauteng High Court in 2013 Makate filed a civil case against Vodacom at the South Gauteng High Court to sue for compensation for the Please Call Me concept. According to court proceedings, the Please Call Me idea was subm...
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