Editor's Note: Please Call Me: The David and Goliath Battle has finally ended

AFTER roughly two decades of legal warfare, public spectacle, corporate brinkmanship and constitutional detours, the long-running battle between Vodacom and Nkosana Kenneth Makate has finally come to an end in the Please Call Me battle.

- Philippa Larkin.

NKOSANA Kenneth Makate. | SUPPLIED

It is difficult to describe the moment without invoking the ancient parable that has shadowed this saga from the start: the story of a shepherd who stood before a giant armed with nothing but resolve and a sling.

In South Africa's modern corporate arena, Makate has long been cast - fairly or unfairly - as the David to Vodacom's Goliath, a lone idea-man challenging a telecommunications behemoth with vast legal and financial resources. With the announcement that the parties have reached an out-of-court settlement, the stone has finally landed, and the giant has stopped swinging.

It was reported that Vodacom's board has approved the settlement agreement, although the terms remain confidential, and the matter will not return to the courts. A notice has been sent to the Supreme Court of Appeal withdrawing the operator's appeal. "The parties are glad that finality has been reached in this regard," Vodacom said.

What began in 2001 as a simple conversation between a young Vodacom employee and his manager would soon evolve into one of South Africa's most enduring corporate battles.

Makate, then a trainee accountant at Vodacom, shared an idea he believed could transform mobile communication - a free messaging service that would allow users without airtime to request a callback.