They say good things come to those who wait, but it’s a blight on Vodacom that Kenneth Makate (above) has been waiting almost a decade to get paid his fair dues.

Makate, the man behind Vodacom’s ‘Please Call Me’ invention, has finally been offered what Vodacom claims is “reasonable compensation” for his idea to develop the call-back service, with a former CEO having first tried to take the credit.

It looked like 2016 was going to be his year, but then things took another twist. This time around, it looks to be much of the same.

Below via TimesLIVE, from a story three days ago:

“Vodacom can confirm that the group CEO has met with the legal representatives to convey his decision and determination on reasonable compensation,” spokesman Byron Kennedy in a response to questions. “In the spirit of the confidentiality agreement both parties signed as part of the negotiating process, Vodacom will not disclose the amount set by the CEO.”

Makate, 42, took the idea to Vodacom’s product-development team while he was working in the finance division in the early 2000s. Alan Knott-Craig [above], who was the CEO at that time, had to determine reasonable compensation for the idea, which didn’t happen then. After lengthy court proceedings and a deadlock in negotiations in October last year, current CEO Shameel Joosub has now decided on fair compensation for the idea.

All that seems well and good, but Makate says that Vodacom offered a “ridiculous and insulting” sum of money, and is now exploring his options.

Business Day reports:

After negotiations on a fair payment reached a deadlock, it fell to Joosub to arbitrate on the matter. He received oral and written representations from both parties in October 2018 before deciding on the amount to be paid.

Makate told Business Day on Sunday the sum was “ridiculous and insulting” and he was consulting his legal team to “explore the remedies available to us”.

He said in a separate statement that “Vodacom has not apologised for their despicable conduct for the past 18 years, as found by the Constitutional Court”.

A Vodacom spokesperson said the company would pay Makate “as soon as we have the banking account details”.

Again, Vodacom, you’ve failed to reach a deal with Makate, so you can hold off on depositing that cash for now.

For a glimpse at some of the rands and cents involved, here’s Moneyweb:

In complaints filed to the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors and Companies and Intellectual Property Commission in April 2018 against Vodacom and its auditor PwC, for misrepresentation of annual financial statements, Makate said the telecommunications giant offered him R10 million as compensation.

This figure is believed to be lower than Makate’s legal fees, which are estimated to run in millions of rands, that he incurred for fighting Vodacom in court for more than ten years.

Makate’s legal representatives and a team of experts believe that his compensation runs into billions of rands. In one of his affidavits submitted to court, Makate’s team concluded in 2015 that the Please Call Me invention generated R70 billion in revenue for Vodacom.

Makate said he is entitled to a 15% share of the revenues as compensation (estimated to be up to R10.5 billion) – the percentage that was his agreement with Vodacom when he invented Please Call Me in 2000.

So Vodacom has previously offered R10 million, and Makate wants closer to R10 billion? Looks like this battle could drag on for many years to come.

[sources:timeslive&busday&moneyweb]