“Please Call Me” inventor Nkosana Makate is heading to court — this time to fend off a claim for 40% of his multimillion-rand settlement with Vodacom.
Private company Black Rock Mining (BRM) has filed papers in the Johannesburg high court arguing it has an agreement with Makate entitling them to 40% of his compensation. The case will be heard on Tuesday on an urgent basis. The dispute earlier went to arbitration, where the claim was dismissed.
The company’s director, Errol Elsdon from the UK, claims a company he was also a director of — Raining Men Trade (RMT), which no longer exists — entered into a contract with Makate 15 years ago. The agreement provided that the company would pay Makate’s legal fees in his battle with Vodacom and, in exchange, would receive a percentage of an eventual settlement.
Makate has rubbished the company’s claims and labelled Elsdon’s court action a “disgrace” and an “extortion” attempt.
Last week Vodacom settled with Makate out of court for an undisclosed sum, believed to be about R700m. The deal was the culmination of a 17-year legal battle.
In court papers, Makate describes meeting Elsdon and his business partners as the greatest “misfortune of my life”. He has also said they are “dishonest fraudsters”.
Now, simply because there’s a settlement, the matter is back in court. For me, these are [the actions of extortionists]
— Nkosana Makate
Yesterday Makate told the Sunday Times he was happy the matter was now before the court and could be dealt with once and for all.
“This [legal action] doesn’t give me sleepless nights because they don’t have a case. They are entitled to nothing,” Makate said. “When we were [having discussions] with [Vodacom CEO] Shameel [Joosub], they wanted to have a seat in the room. I also had to fend them off by getting a judgment against them saying I had exclusive rights.”
He said BRM needed to be stopped by the court. “I had to get a court order to stop them from meddling with the negotiations [with Vodacom]. It looks like that’s their attitude — they always get stopped by courts. They don’t listen.”
Makate said BRM had “unconditionally” removed its matter from the court roll in 2024. “Now, simply because there’s a settlement, the matter is back in court. For me, these are [the actions of extortionists]. Legally, they know they are entitled to nothing.”
SN Mnguni Attorneys, representing BRM, wrote a letter to Vodacom stating that Makate’s lawyers were refusing to pay them a 40% “entitlement of the award”.
Makate disputes any such agreement, claiming it was fraudulently entered into.
“[BRM] already owes me costs from previous matters they lost against me in court and arbitration. They are just chancers. I am happy this [matter] is now before court,” Makate said.
In his legal papers, Elsdon argued RMT’s late director, Christiaan Schoeman, and another business partner, had raised an initial R500,000 and paid it to Makate’s attorneys. He further argues that in 2013 he raised R3.7m from Global Distressed Alpha III and paid R2.4m of that amount to Makate’s attorneys.
However, Makate has challenged Elsdon to show him a single payment that contributed towards his litigation costs in his battle with Vodacom over the last 14 years.
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