Lawyers, investors fight over Please Call Me billions

03 June 2016 - 12:28 By TMG Digital

Kenneth Makate’s Please Call Me victory barely six weeks ago has disintegrated into a clash between lawyers and investors who financed his case in a plot to hijack the billions owed to him by Vodacom. The Mail and Guardian reported on Friday that a company is applying for an urgent court interdict to stop the cellphone giant from paying a cent to Makate.Alternatively‚ the company‚ called Raining Men Trade‚ wants the courts to make Vodacom pay him no more than 50% of the settlement reached on what he should be paid for coming up with the hugely successful Please Call Me service.Read the whole #PleaseCallMe judgmentIn a scathing judgement on April 26‚ the Constitutional Court gave Vodacom 30 days to negotiate a financial settlement with Makate.Raining Men Trade claims it was the legally appointed firm for the contract with Makate‚ in line with his deal with litigation-funding company Stirling Rand‚ which picked up his case in 2013.No hard feelings‚ Vodacom: 'Please Call Me' inventor after court victoryBut in a bizarre turn of events‚ Raining Men and Chris Schoeman‚ who found investors to fight the case against Vodacom‚ claim that an attorney on their own legal team conspired with another law firm to oust the company.The attorney‚ Wilna Lubbe‚ allegedly told Makate that the funders were not paying his legal fees and he could become liable for the costs. A new attorney was then introduced to Makate.The row involves false letters of demand being sent out‚ grossly inflated legal fees and some of the investors who backed the case being described as “nothing less than leeches”.Lubbe dismissed the allegations as untrue while Makate declined to comment...

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