Nkosana Makate, the man behind Vodacom’s “Please Call Me” idea, cancelled a legal backing contract in 2015 with the wrong company, and his deal with British Virgin Islands company Black Rock Mining, which is claiming entitlement to 40% of his payout, stands, the company argues in court papers.
An urgent application initiated by Errol Elsdon, former director of Black Rock Mining, will be heard on Tuesday in the Johannesburg high court.
Makate settled with the telecom giant earlier this month after nearly two decades of litigation for Vodacom to compensate him for his “Please Call Me” idea.
The exact amount of the settlement has not been publicly disclosed, but is estimated to be worth more than R600m.
Elsdon’s application has put the payout on ice.
The UK investor wants Makate’s attorneys, Stemela & Lubbe, to withhold 40% of the payout, which he claims Black Rock is entitled to but has been disputed for a decade. Elsdon’s claim emanates from a 2011 agreement the late Christiaan Schoeman had with Makate to fund “all his legal costs” in the litigation against Vodacom.
Schoeman signed the agreement on behalf of the company.
Makate, in his legal papers, argues the company never fulfilled its legal obligations and he terminated the agreement in 2015. Schoeman, on behalf of the company, accepted the termination.
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