Please Call Me inventor can’t talk about deal
High court orders Makate and service provider Vodacom to keep talks secret
As Vodacom and the man who invented Please Call Me Nkosana Makate were putting ink to paper inside court on keeping their settlement negotiations secret, protesters picketed outside in support of him.
Makate and Vodacom reached a settlement yesterday, averting a legal showdown in the North Gauteng High Court, after the cellphone giant hauled him to court in an effort to silence him.
This was after recent media reports which revealed that he had been offered R10-million for his idea.
Legal representatives for both parties agreed that Makate would not disclose details of their settlement to the media or any other third party.
“I had already made this undertaking outside court but they still wanted to argue inside court. But last night they came with a draft order which agreed with my undertaking,” Makate said.
A Vodacom spokesman said: “We would like to place on record that this does not truthfully portray events of the past 24 hours. While Mr Makate agreed to give an undertaking, the proposed wording from his attorneys was littered with qualifications and exceptions which were unacceptable to Vodacom.”
Vodacom rejected the accusation that it is applying delaying tactics in the Please Call Me matter and accused Makate of being behind the delays.
Bongani Dlamini from Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, joined a group of protesters outside court to support Makate, his homeboy.
Dlamini said: “Vodacom is bullying Nkosana because they know the power of the media, so this court challenge is merely aimed at silencing him so that they can continue to delay the negotiation process.”
EFF Ekurhuleni councillor Mercia Nkosi added: “We are here to make sure that Nkosana is paid what’s due to him.”
She said if it “came to a push we will shut down Vodacom shops like we did with H&M”.
In a one-page draft order, the parties agreed that Makate would keep quiet about the negotiations that have failed to yield positive results for two years.
“The respondent undertakes that he will disclose no confidential issues as defined in the confidential agreement... nor discuss the contents of the negotiations with any third parties, including the media,” read the draft settlement which has been made an order of court.
A Constitutional Court ruling in April 2016 directed that Makate be recognised for his Please Call Me idea, leading to the beginning of settlement negotiations.