[imagesource:gencraftai]

Lawyer up partners, the ‘Please Call Me’ saga rides again!

It seems as if most of the country celebrated a bit too soon along with Nkosana Makate as Vodacom has applied for leave to appeal the ‘Please Call Me’ ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).

According to the application, “The SCA orders are unintelligible, incomprehensible, and vague rendering them incapable [of] implementation and enforcement”.

Vodacom claims they would suffer “vast” operational problems if the SCA ruling that it pays billions to Makate is upheld.

“The impact of the SCA judgment, should it be upheld, would be vast and wide-ranging on both Vodacom South Africa and Vodacom Group, as well as the attractiveness of South Africa as an investment destination.

So Vodacom is now appealing to the Constitutional Court. As Zuma would say, there is always a bigger court.

Vodacom stated on Wednesday that the SCA judgement and order are “fundamentally flawed” and violate their right to a fair trial. It claimed that the SCA misled itself by ruling on subjects that had not previously been addressed and that it selectively decided to “have regard” for Makate’s testimony.

“Vodacom remains open to constructive dialogue and good faith negotiations and, without prejudice to its Constitutional Court Appeal process, to agree a fair and reasonable amount as compensation for Mr Makate’s idea that led to the development of the PCM [Please Call Me] product. It is Vodacom’s desire that the matter be amicably resolved and brought to a timely conclusion.”

News24 reports that earlier in February the SCA dismissed Vodacom’s application for leave to appeal a previous ruling by the High Court in Pretoria, but also substituted parts of that ruling, including setting aside a R47 million determination made by Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub.

It ruled that Vodacom had to determine a new offer where Makate was entitled to be paid 5% to 7.5% of the total revenue of the product. This must also account for the time value of money, calculated at an interest rate of 5% a year from March 2001 to February 2019. According to some estimates, this could mean an eventual offer of at least R8 billion.

The SCA noted that the compensation amount offered by Joosub had been determined based on Makate’s five-year contract, but the Please Call Me idea had been generating revenue for far longer than that. “This irregularity renders the CEO’s determination unreasonable and patently inequitable,” the SCA found.

We suppose it was too good to be true when Makate was awarded a payday of R29 Billion. For once, the small guy prevailed against the lawyered-up corporation, but it appears Makate only won a battle, not the war.

Let the lawfare continue.

[source:news24]