South African telecommunications giant Vodacom has reached an out-of-court settlement with former employee Nkosana Makate, ending a 17-year legal battle over the creation of the company’s widely used “Please Call Me” messaging service — one of the most closely followed corporate disputes in South Africa’s modern history.
In a statement filed to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Vodacom said its board approved the settlement on November 4, 2025, adding that “the matter was settled by the parties out of court.” The company did not disclose the amount agreed upon but confirmed that the financial impact of the settlement would be reflected in its results for the six months ending September 2025, set to be published on November 10.
As part of the resolution, Vodacom formally withdrew its case from the Supreme Court of Appeal, bringing to a close a protracted legal saga that had reached South Africa’s Constitutional Court — the nation’s highest judicial body. The dispute has spanned nearly two decades, marking one of the longest-running corporate battles in South African legal history.
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 19 (Feb 9 – May 2, 2026): big discounts for early bird.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and co-invest in great global startups.
Register for Tekedia AI Lab: From Technical Design to Deployment (next edition begins Jan 24 2026).
Makate, a former Vodacom employee, first conceived the idea for the “Please Call Me” service in 2000. The feature allowed prepaid mobile users to send free messages requesting call-backs when they ran out of airtime — a concept that revolutionized mobile communication in South Africa and quickly spread across Africa. At the time, Makate presented the idea to Vodacom’s then-director of product development, who authorized a trial run to test its commercial potential.
According to court documents, Makate was told he would be compensated with a share of the revenue generated by the service. However, Vodacom later declined to pay him, sparking a lengthy legal battle over intellectual property, contractual promises, and compensation.
In 2016, the Constitutional Court ruled in Makate’s favor, affirming that he was entitled to be compensated for his invention and ordering Vodacom to negotiate a fair payment. However, the two sides remained locked in disagreement over how much Makate was owed. Vodacom initially offered him 47 million rand (about $2.7 million), an amount Makate rejected as grossly inadequate. He argued that the service had generated billions of rand in revenue for Vodacom and sought a significantly higher payout.
In July 2025, Vodacom scored a partial legal reprieve when the Constitutional Court found “major flaws” in a lower court’s ruling that deemed the company’s earlier offer inequitable. That decision opened the door for renewed negotiations, which ultimately culminated in this week’s settlement.
While Vodacom’s statement did not reveal the financial terms, analysts believe the company opted for a settlement to protect its brand reputation and avoid further legal uncertainty. The case had become symbolic in South Africa, sparking public debates about corporate fairness, innovation, and the rights of employees who contribute ideas that drive major business successes.
Vodacom, a subsidiary of Britain’s Vodafone Group, now appears keen to close this contentious chapter as it prepares to release its latest financial results. The resolution of the “Please Call Me” dispute removes a longstanding legal overhang from the company’s books and could help restore investor confidence after years of reputational strain.
Makate, who has maintained that he was the rightful originator of the service, has yet to comment publicly on the settlement. For many South Africans, however, the agreement marks not just the end of a personal battle, but a precedent-setting moment for innovation and employee rights in the country’s corporate landscape.