Vodacom asked to delay ‘please call me’ payment amid dispute

VODACOM has been told to delay full payment to a former employee credited with the idea for a popular calling service, pending the outcome of a dispute between the person and the company that helped fund his eight-year legal battle.

Sterling Rand, which found financial backers for Kenneth Makate as he pursued Vodacom for compensation for the “please call me” concept, has told the wireless operator to withhold at least 50 percent of any settlement, a letter sent on behalf of Sterling Rand by lawyers Fairbridges Wertheim Becker shows.

Sterling Rand is concerned that Makate and his lawyers, Stemela & Lubbe, will agree to a deal that excludes the company. Makate did not respond to messages on Facebook and Twitter seeking comment.

“We can confirm we have received this request,” Vodacom spokesman Byron Kennedy said yesterday. “However, our focus is on compliance with the order of the Constitutional Court which requires us to negotiate in good faith with Mr Makate.”

The dispute comes a month after the Concourt ruled that Vodacom must compensate Makate for the “please call me” idea, which lets customers with no balance on their cellphones alert someone with a free text message.

Vodacom’s former chief executive Alan Knott-Craig had been wrongly credited with the innovation, the Concourt ruling showed.

Makate might be entitled to as much as R10.5 billion, with Sterling Rand due half of that amount for taking on the funding risk, the Mail & Guardian reported earlier this month, citing Makate’s legal counsel.

‘The order of the Concourt… requires us to negotiate in good faith with Mr Makate.’

Dispute

According to the letter, Makate has agreed that the litigation financiers must give written consent to any settlement reached, unless it exceeded R650 million. The dispute surrounds whether or not Makate validly cancelled this agreement with Sterling Rand.

If Vodacom does not agree to the request, an urgent application will be asked for by the courts, according to the letter dated May 23. – Bloomberg

PHOTO: SIMPHIWE MBOKAZI Kenneth Makate won his “please call me” case against Vodacom, but his financiers are now in dispute with him.