Court’s surprise ruling extends Makate’s ‘Please Call Me’ battle

FOR nearly two decades, South Africans have watched the legal saga between Vodacom and its former employee, Nkosana Makate, unfold like a courtroom drama with no final act.

- NQOLOKAZI NOMVALO

The latest twist, a unanimous Constitutional Court judgment handed down on Thursday, has reignited public interest and legal debate.

In a development that stunned many legal observers and defied predictions of finality, the apex court has remitted the case back to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

It will now be reconsidered by a freshly constituted Bench. This move injects fresh uncertainty into a saga long believed to be approaching its conclusion.

But what does this mean, and why does it matter?

It is important to clarify that Makate’s original idea was a simple yet powerful proposition: a mobile user with no airtime should be able to “buzz” another user, prompting them to call back.

Vodacom, recognising the creativity, developed the concept into the now-famous Please Call Me free message.

This version allowed for costless transmission and universal utility. That difference matters, especially when assessing the various compensation models, which have ranged from employee-equivalent remuneration to revenue-sharing frameworks.