“Please Call Me” inventor Nkosana Makate's lawyer Stuart Scott told the court Vodacom has been making money from Makate's idea without paying him a penny for his great invention.
Advocate Scott, for Makate, told the Constitutional Court that Vodacom has made an about turn despite having initially praised the accountant's idea as novel and great but did not want to compensate him despite benefiting for 24 years.
“Makate is in court this morning and he's now 48 years old. He is still waiting for his compensation from Vodacom, and they have been using his invention for 24 years,” Scott said.
He said Makate's idea was so brilliant that Vodacom managed to develop it into a product in a few months and rolled it out.
“It [Makate's idea] has been equated to Google ... in other words, it wasn't just a brilliant idea, it was one of the most brilliant ideas that's ever been,” said Scott.
“November 21 2000, that was the day Mr Makate shared his memorandum with Vodacom. He was 24 years old at the time; Vodacom described his idea as the world's first ... described as Africa's five best inventions.”
Makate is opposing Vodacom's leave to appeal a February ruling of the Supreme Court of Appeals which set aside a R47m compensation offer from CEO Shameel Joosub, which Makate had rejected in January 2019.
The apex court is listening to Vodacom's leave to appeal application as the telecommunications giants seek to convince the court to overturn the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), arguing it was vague and unimplementable, among other reasons, as it made Makate liable to compensation amounting to up to R63bn.
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