Vodacom settles 17-year ‘Please Call Me’ dispute with former employee
Vodacom, which is majority-owned by Britain's Vodafone, did not reveal the settlement amount but said the cost would be reflected in its financial results for the six months ending September 30, to be released on November 10.
Safaricom's parent company, Vodacom, has reached an out-of-court settlement with a former South African employee, ending a 17-year legal dispute over the creation of its popular "Please Call Me" service.
The dispute dates back to the early 2000s, when Nkosana Makate, then an employee of the South African telecoms giant, proposed a call-back messaging feature that became the "Please Call Me" service, a free text allowing users without airtime to request a call from another number.
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According to Makate, Vodacom's then-director of product development agreed to test the idea commercially and promised him a share of the revenue, but he was never paid.
On Wednesday, Vodacom, in a statement issued on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), announced that it had managed to resolve the case out of court.
"Shareholders are hereby advised that on November 4, 2025, the Vodacom board approved a settlement agreement and the matter was settled by the parties out of court," the statement, seen by The Eastleigh Voice, reads.
"The parties are glad that finality has been reached in this regard."
Vodacom, which is majority-owned by Britain's Vodafone, did not reveal the settlement amount but said the cost would be reflected in its financial results for the six months ending September 30, to be released on November 10.
Similarly, as part of the agreement, Vodacom announced that it had withdrawn its case at the Supreme Court of Appeal, bringing an end to one of South Africa's most closely watched corporate disputes.
"A notice was sent to the Supreme Court of Appeal withdrawing Vodacom's appeal. Additionally, a notice was sent to the High Court to abandon the February 8, 2022, judgement," the company, which owns a 35 per cent stake in Safaricom.
Makate has not commented publicly on the development, but he had earlier rejected Vodacom's offer of about $2.7 million (Sh348 million), arguing it undervalued his role in the product's success.
In July, South Africa's Constitutional Court gave Vodacom a partial win after finding errors in the earlier ruling that said the company's compensation offer to Makate was unfair.
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