Vodacom couldn't find seven of the 18 contracts that the high court ordered be make available to "Please Call Me" inventor Nkosana Makate in his protracted legal battle with the cellphone giant.
This emerged in court papers filed in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Friday as Vodacom appeals judge Jody Kollapen's June judgment which ordered that Makate be furnished with documents, including copies of several revenue-generating value added services' contracts.
Makate had approached the court in December to force CEO Shameel Joosub to disclose all documentation he relied on when offering him a R47m compensation in January last year for his idea which he believed entitled him to a compensation of around R20bn.
In June, the high court ordered that Makate be furnished with parts of a 2008 forensic report by KPMG and about 18 contracts with other service providers that generating revenue value added services.
That outcome marked yet another victory by Makate in court, in his protracted battle with Vodacom over rights and remuneration for his creation of Please Call Me product he inverted almost 20 years ago.
In his founding affidavit, Nkateko Nyoka, Vodacom's chief officer for legal, compliance and risk, said after being advised that Kollapen's order may not be appealable because it was interlocutory in form and substance, they now sought a clarification and/or a variation order.
Nyoka stated that they felt that Makate had not applied for the contracts which he was granted an order for and that they were prejudiced by not being afforded an adequate opportunity to contest the relevance thereof.
Nyoka stated that contracts that Vodacom couldn't find included those of Netcare 082-911 and Vodacom Paypoint.
He said they sought a variation order "to direct the production of only such of the contracts as the second respondent has in (his) possession in order to render the learned judge's order implementable and practicable."
When approached for comment yesterday, Makate said Vodacom's arguments in the court papers were puzzling.
"Vodacom and Joosub should have all those contracts because they have a very sophisticated system of archiving.
"They were able to produce my employment contract and my targets as their employee during the high court trial 14 years since I left the company," Makate said.
He said his lawyers are working on the indication to oppose the application.
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