Makate unwavering after apex court remits Please Call Me case back to SCA

The Constitutional Court has referred the "Please Call Me" matter back to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), and ordered the matter to be heard by a different panel.

This follows the SCA's decision to reject Nkosana Makate's request to appeal a previous high court ruling that dismissed his compensation claim because it was time-barred.

Six years ago, Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub offered Makate a R47m settlement, which Makate declined, opting instead to pursue legal action.

The SCA has ruled that Vodacom must pay Makate between 5% and 7.5% of the total voice revenue generated by the Please Call Me service over an 18-year period, starting from March 2001, along with accrued interest.

In February last year, Vodacom approached the apex court to quash a ruling by the SCA that it should make a new compensation offer to Makate. 

On Thursday, outgoing acting deputy chief justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga ruled that the matter be remitted to the SCA for a proper determination of the appeal.

Madlanga granted the leave to appeal and instructed for the order of the SCA to be set aside. "The matter is remitted to the SCA to be reheard by a differently constituted panel of judges of the court," he said on Thursday.

Vodacom had argued that the effect of the SCA ruling would translate to a payout of possibly up to R63bn. Makate denied this, saying it's an exaggeration.

Makate estimated his compensation, guided by the SCA ruling, would be about R9.6bn.

Reacting to the ruling, Makate said he hoped the SCA will give a judgement that "stands the test", He added: "We expected a different decision, and we have to abide by the court decision. We are going back to the SCA, because they said the SCA must apply themselves properly."

Makate came up with the Please Call Me concept in 2000 while working for Vodacom as trainee accountant.  

SowetanLIVE