The Man Who Invented "Please Call Me Back" Demands N260 Billion In South Africa

*Nkosana Makate and Vodacom have entered another round in the 20-year 'Please Call Me' saga.
*After a Constitutional Court ruling in 2016, Makate was offered R47 million as compensation for his idea.
*Back in court over three days, Makate's legal team is seeking a legal remedy only allowed in exceptional circumstances.

The inventor of Vodacom's "Please Call Me" offering, Nkosana Makate, is back in court this week for a review hearing of the R47 million in compensation for coming up with the concept. The amount offered was calculated by Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub. Makate is not satisfied and is demanding billions from the cellular giant.

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria will hear from both sides over three days, hopefully reaching a conclusion to the 20-year-old saga.

On day one, Makate's legal team presented possible remedies to the presiding judge, Judge Wendy Hughes.

Gilbert Marcus, SC, representing Makate, said they had arrived at the conclusion that substitution would be an acceptable remedy.

Marcus told Fin24 that this would mean the court would ultimately be the decision maker when it came to determining the compensation amount, and not Joosub.

"So instead of sending the matter back to the CEO for a new determination, we are asking that the court make the determination," Marcus explained.

Exceptional circumstances

A substitution order is typically granted in exceptional circumstances.

In court, Marcus said: "Our attempts to persuade your ladyship to give a remedy of substitution is exceptional and we think the test of exceptional circumstances is met in this case."

Marcus said there were three points which make Makate's circumstance exceptional. The first being the "sheer history, duration of the matter and the need for the matter to be brought to finality"; secondly, the "conflict of interest that arises when one party enjoys decision-making power"; and thirdly, "the manner in which Vodacom and the CEO have conducted themselves in these very proceedings".

'Unfortunate history'

"The history is an unfortunate history, and the saga has now been going on for more than 20 years and what we see at every turn including in these proceedings is an unstinting endeavour by Vodacom either to deprive Mr Makate as they did at trial to any entitlement at all, or as we saw in the negotiations with the CEO, to leave him with the absolute minimum possible," said Marcus speaking to the first point.

In 2016, the Constitutional Court made a ruling where Vodacom was ordered to enter into negotiations with Makate to find a fair compensation. Joosub offered Makate the R47 million, but Makate is accusing the company of not being fully transparent in its negotiations with him. Further, he said the compensation offered was not enough. He is demanding more than R10 billion.

"Secondly, where one of the parties enjoys decision-making power, there is an inevitable conflict of interest and so it is with the CEO in this particular case. And while we accept that that conflict of interest is a consequence of the perhaps naive deal which Mr Makate struck with Vodacom.

'Inappropriate' to let Joosub decide

"Thirdly, is the manner in which Vodacom and the CEO have conducted themselves in these very proceedings. We submit that it would be inappropriate to send this matter back to the very person who has shown this level of determination to defend the indefensible. For that we submit respectfully that substitution is appropriate," said Marcus.

"If the matter is remitted, then your ladyship would do so with very strict guidelines as to the manner in which the CEO is required to exercise his powers. For example, the duration for which Mr Makate is entitled to a reasonable remuneration is 18 years that he is entitled to interest. The proper thing to do would be to give the CEO guidelines," said Marcus.

It was agreed that Makate was owed 5% of the proceeds generated from his invention, the current disagreement lies in what constitutes revenue generated from the invention. The day's session ended with Vodacom trying to explain how the invention generated no revenue.

The hearing continues for two more days until Thursday.

https://www.news24.com/amp/fin24/companies/please-call-me-inventor-nkosana-makate-wants-court-to-determine-compensation-not-vodacom-20210504

Nkosana Makate, who is 44 years old, is a South African who proposed the "Please Call Me" concept to Vodacom in his 20s. His idea consisted of sending a free message to other Vodacom users in order to request that they call you, even if you do not have enough credit available to do so.

Nkosana Makate shared the concept with his employer, but never received payment for it. He laid a charge against Vodacom and won the case against them after an 8-year battle. Now he is fighting for the appropriate settlement which he believes is 266 billion naira.

My brothers who invented urgent 2k?? I wan know am

Ok

One day in the future when I feel I can trust the judicial system in Nigeria, I will go to court for all my stolen ideas....

Hmmm!!

Cholls:
My brothers who invented urgent 2k?? I wan know am

Na woman invent am o

Nkosana Makate's story destined for the big screen

It’s being hailed as the ultimate David vs Goliath story of the South African corporate world. One man takes on the might of the telecommunications industry, fights a lonely battle for 21 years, and eventually wins a payout that looks likely to amount to billions of rands.

Makate grew up in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, and describes a football-mad childhood. “I was a typical South African township boy,” he says.

In 1995 he got his break: a government initiative which required telecommunications companies to train people in the accounting field. Makate was taken on by Vodacom.

Given what was to happen subsequently, it may surprise people to hear that Makate still has warm memories of Vodacom.

“It was a wonderful company,” he says now. “It was my first corporate experience.”

The big idea

As a 24-year-old at Vodacom in 2000, Makate had a girlfriend who was studying at the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape. She didn’t have much money; talking to each other on the phone was a problem. If his girlfriend had no airtime, it was impossible for her to give him a missed call, which was how she could indicate she wanted to reach him.

Makate had an idea. What if there were a free Vodacom service which would enable his girlfriend to send him a standard message asking him to call her? He can remember the exact date the concept came to him: November 22 2000.

He couldn’t flesh out the technical side of how the idea would work. “I’m not an engineer,” he says. What he could provide to Vodacom was the idea, “basically, what I was seeking to achieve”.

Makate took the idea to his manager, who passed it on to Vodacom’s director of product development Philip Geissler. Makate says he had a verbal agreement with Geissler that he would receive compensation for the concept.

Vodacom could see the value of the idea almost immediately. Less than three months later, Geissler was introducing the concept of the Please Call Me to staff, and congratulating Makate in an internal email.

He wrote: “Kenneth [Nkosana] Makate from our finance department came up with this idea a few months ago and brought it to the Product Development Division. We wish to thank Kenneth for bringing his idea to our attention.”

Instant hit

Please Call Me was formally launched in March 2001. It was an instant hit. About 140 000 users took up the service in the first day. Since its introduction, it has been estimated that Please Call Me has brought in at least R70-billion (N1.8 trillion) in revenue for Vodacom.

But if Makate expected his payday, he had a nasty surprise coming. Vodacom, it emerged, had no intention of remunerating Makate for his idea.

Vodacom’s erstwhile chief executive Alan Knott-Craig, who left the company in 2008, went so far as to create a fake origin story for Please Call Me. In his 2009 autobiography Second Is Nothing, he claimed he conceived of the idea when watching two Vodacom security guards attempt to communicate with each other through missed calls.

Makate left Vodacom in 2003 with a heavy heart. “It was depressing,” he says. “I had basically given up.”

In the years to come, Makate would learn just how difficult it would be to claim his due from one of South Africa’s most powerful companies. Lawyers turned him down repeatedly. He often thought about giving up.

“Eventually when I decided to say, ‘No, let me go on,’ I found lawyers who were really brave,” he says.

Makate’s case eventually reached the high court in Johannesburg in 2014. There, more disappointment was in store. The case was dismissed on two grounds: that Geissler had not had the authority to offer Makate compensation for his idea, and that Makate should have launched his claim earlier.

A glimmer of hope, however, was found in the court’s criticism of Knott-Craig’s “greedy” approach.

Vindication

Makate had one shot left: to approach South Africa’s apex court, the Constitutional Court. There, on Tuesday, he finally achieved his vindication. The judgment was unsparing in its criticism of Knott-Craig, referring to him as having created “a false narrative”, an “untrue story” and a “lie”.

It further described Knott-Craig as having “performed dismally” as a witness in the high court and characterised his conduct as “dishonourable”.

Yet Makate says he bears no grudges towards Knott-Craig. “[Vodacom] was a vibrant company. I was happy working there."

The Movie

Makate’s story is one that seems destined for a book, and he confirms that he hopes to complete one by the end of the year. A film is on the cards, too. When asked if he has an actor in mind to play him in the movie, he replies: “I’ll play myself. I’m turning 40, but I still look 24.”

make them no kill am o...cos these whites are criminals

Cool way of making cash.

Maybe we should start using "could you ring me back?" or "please ring me back"




















This is Mimi Logistics

Dey should help us protest against DSTV,MTN. The man that designed Nig flag nor get mouth to demand billions.This life

No be this man invent am,na 9ja girls invent that line
If you want to earn money online check my signature. All you have to do is roll every hour to earn. My friend withdrew 8k after two weeks.register now and start earning

Damnnn niggarrrr

Okay

Cool

TRUTH be told this guy is also damn greedy!

When you work in an organization where you are paid, you are expected to contribute by hard work and idea to move the organization to greater heights and be profitable!

As a staff, He contributed an impressive idea to the company, he was appreciated with a whooping R47 million (About ₦1.2Billion)

Greed push him to demand for more!
Is he expecting the company to hand him all the profits realized from his idea?

Wow.

Nice CASHOUT

Simply solution



Anytime he call tell him



Call me back

what about the SISTER who invented NO SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE. Bubu's government should compensate her with at least N200 recharge card.

Na so e suppose be

TMKsouth:
Nkosana Makate, who is 44 years old, is a South African who proposed the "Please Call Me" concept to Vodacom in his 20s. His idea consisted of sending a free message to other Vodacom users in order to request that they call you, even if you do not have enough credit available to do so.

Nkosana Makate shared the concept with his employer, but never received payment for it. He laid a charge against Vodacom and won the case against them after an 8-year battle. Now he is fighting for the appropriate settlement which he believes is 266 billion naira.

That's too much though.

You see why Innoson rejected that guy's logo??

Sense will not kill him

ok

Hmmm na wa ohhh

TMKsouth:
Nkosana Makate enjoys huge public support in this David vs Goliath case

Why are there no pure water littering the area?