The historic settlement reached between “Please Call Me” inventor Nkosana Makate and Vodacom has offered some valuable lessons about delayed justice.
Last week, Makate and Vodacom announced that they had reached an out-of-court agreement to finally settle the matter after almost two decades of legal battles. The settlement announcement came just weeks before another round of legal arguments was set to be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal for a third time.
While both parties have expressed relief that this case has been brought to finality with an out-of-court settlement for compensation, it leaves lingering questions about the true cost of justice.
It further underscores the need for companies to better understand how to treat their employees’ creative ideas.
Whether Makate received anything closer to what he wanted, speculated to be between R350m and R900m, remains a highly guarded secret, but we all know he rejected an offer of R47m six years ago.
The matter may be over legally speaking, but morally, it raises several uncomfortable questions about how little value some companies attach to their employees’ ideas.
It took more than just courage and tenacity from Makate. As an accountant at the SA Local Government Association, Makate had to dig deep in his pockets, including finding funding elsewhere, to prove the value of his idea.
Even the initial funders decided to pull out at some stage, seeing how costly and exhausting the fight had become. The unfortunate message that this sends to the rest of society is that justice is for the few with deep pockets.
Despite public pressure and some court victories, Vodacom was unrelenting in its refusal to acknowledge Makate’s contribution to the concept of “Please Call Me”.
Yet this battle was clear from the beginning that it was fair compensation for an idea contributed by an employee. It therefore makes us all wonder what made the company make a U-turn on its initial position now.
Whatever the reasons may be, what is evidently clear from this case is that Vodacom had to learn the hard way that creative ideas of its employees can be costly if promises made are not met.
This lesson is also important for all corporate companies using their employees’ ideas to build their success. For Makate, we hope that the end to this debacle has indeed brought the closure he sought.
The time it took to settle this dispute is a lesson in systemic failure.
Sowetan
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.