Beyond money: The real significance of the Vodacom Please Call Me settlement

AS NEWS about the "Please Call Me" secretive settlement was streaming, many wondered about the settlement amount.

- WESLEY . INTEL

NKOSANA Kenneth Makate.

(SUPPLIED)

As someone who covered the "Please Call Me" matter, I reflected on this moment and its meaning. I think it will take time before we fully realise its true meaning.

As many have done over the past few days, it's easy to minimise the issue to be just about money, hence the speculations about the amount of the settlement.

I'd like to argue that there was more to the "Please Call Me" matter than just money. This is not to say that remuneration was not a factor. In my view, money was just a byproduct of key factors in the matter.

I can't talk about the "Please Call Me" matter without reflecting about the man, Nkosana Kenneth Makate.

I cannot think of a moment of engagement with him that was without a deep sense of conviction and unwavering belief in justice.

Makate believed strongly that an injustice had been committed and it had to be corrected whatever it took.

Many of us forget that the "Please Call Me" matter started in his early twenties. The young man then was an accountancy intern at Vodacom who had a deep understanding of township conditions since he grew up in Katlehong.