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Please Call Me case resurfaces

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 10 Dec 2014
Vodacom sends out 3.6 billion Please Call Me messages a year.
Vodacom sends out 3.6 billion Please Call Me messages a year.

Nkosana Makate - the former Vodacom employee that took the mobile giant to court in 2008 in an attempt to get compensation for the Please Call Me service, which he claims he invented in 2000, is seeking to overturn a July ruling that was made in the company's favour.

According to a report in The Star today, Makate now wants to take his case to the Supreme Court of Appeal. This comes about five months after South Gauteng High Court judge Phillip Coppin dismissed Makate's case against Vodacom, with costs.

The daily newspaper reports that Makate yesterday applied for leave to appeal against the Johannesburg court's judgment. "Judgment will be given this week or early next week."

Sparking what turned out to be a protracted legal battle, Makate claimed he had invented the popular cellphone service while working for Vodacom as a junior accountant some 14 years ago now.

He said the concept arose when he was not sure whether a then-girlfriend, now his wife, was out of airtime, or avoiding him.

Makate only instituted legal action against Vodacom eight years after the service was introduced, however - a fact that counted against him when it came to judgment being passed earlier this year.

Former Vodacom CEO Alan Knott-Craig previously testified, saying he invented the concept himself while watching two security guards trying to communicate via missed calls.

According to Vodacom's managing executive for mobile commerce, Herman Singh, the operator sends out 3.6 billion Please Call Me messages a year (28 million a day).

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