Kaunda Selisho

By Kaunda Selisho

Journalist


‘Just shut up Vodacom’ – Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams

The minister took to Twitter to give the telecoms giant a clear directive.


The minister of communications, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, seems to be fed up with the “please call me” saga between telecommunications giant Vodacom and former Vodacom employee Nkosana Kenneth Makate.

This comes after Gauteng MEC for education Panyaza Lesufi took to Twitter to call on the masses to stand by Makate in his on-going battle with Vodacom.

“We need to stand by Nkosana ‘Please Call Me’ Makate against this bully called @Vodacom, pay him by month end or face the wrath of the nation. How dare do you even disrespect court decisions #VodaPayHim” wrote Lesufi on Twitter.

Ndabeni-Abrahams wrote: “Just shut up Vodacom and do the right thing ‘Talk to Makate’ instead of this poor PR stunt. Don’t talk to us until you have reached a settlement with him and his team.”

The telecoms giant responded and labelled claims that Vodacom was disrespecting the decision of courts “false and ill-informed”.

https://twitter.com/Stellarated/status/1084687790502301697

Image: Twitter

This comes after false reports that Vodacom had finally paid Makate as per the Constitutional Court ruling that Makate must be compensated by Vodacom for his involvement in the invention of the Please Call Me.

“I haven’t reached any deal with Vodacom, I was dumped with some determination that the deal was done. We are reviewing that and we will be taking it up further,” Makate told EWN.

According to a Vodacom spokesperson, the group CEO, Shameel Joosub, along with Vodacom’s lawyers met with Makate’s legal representation to convey Joosub’s decision as per the Constitutional Court order.

Due to the confidentiality agreement in place, the amount cannot be disclosed.

Vodacom claimed they would transfer the funds as soon as they received Makate’s bank account details.

ALSO READ: Vodacom lambasted for EFF ‘abusers of democracy’ image

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