In a legal battle that has been on for more than two decades, Kenneth Nkosana Makate, the South African inventor for the widely used “Please Call Me” mobile service, has finally won over Vodacom, a prominent telco giant with services in many African countries.
The Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa denied an appeal from Vodacom and ruled in favor of Kenneth. The court determined that Vodacom must compensate Makate with between 5% to 7.5% of the total voice revenue the “Please Call Me” service has earned over an 18-year period, with interest.
This is the period within which the legal battle between the two parties has raged on. In addition to that, Vodacom has also been ordered to cover the legal costs incurred by Kenneth during the appeal, as a result of the company’s underhand approach and unwarranted tactics in an attempt to delay the case’s hearing and ruling.
This is not only a financial win for Kenneth but also a win for Africa as over the years there have been many cases of people being denied recognition and reward for innovation and intellectual property rights in the telecommunication industry.
One such case is the unanswered mystery behind who really invented the foundational technology on top of which M-pesa, Safaricom’s cash cow runs on. Vodacom also owns M-pesa stake. Just last year Kenyans on Twitter went on a rampage criticizing Safaricom for constantly stealing people’s ideas, implementing them and not giving any credit.
M-pesa had also been in court over allegedly stealing the notable M-pesa One Tap Idea from one Mr. Jonathan Murangiri Gikabu.
The dispute between Makate and Vodacom goes back all the way to 2007 when Makate, then a Vodacom finance manager first sent letters demanding payment saying that he was promised remuneration as the originator of the idea “Please Call Me”. Legal action was initiated by Makate in 2008, according to innovation village.
The case landed in the Constitutional Court which ordered both parties to come to an amicable agreement for Makate’s compensation. Vodacom CEO, Joosub Shameel proposed remuneration of R47 million which Makate refused and was backed by the High Court upon which Vodacom took the case to the Supreme Court.
This judgement by the Supreme Court could see Makate awarded about $1 Billion.
Even so the win is still on the line for Makate as Vodacom has promised to fight the Court’s ruling once again at the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
