The telecommunication giant did not disclose the settlement amount.
The protracted legal battle between Please Call Me inventor Nkosana Makate and Vodacom has finally come to a close.
Vodacom confirmed this on Wednesday.
“Shareholders are referred to the announcements released on SENS on 31 July 2025, 7 February 2024, 28 February 2024 and 27 August 2024 in respect of the Please Call Me (‘PCM’) matter,” read a message from the company to shareholders.
“Shareholders are hereby advised that on 4 November 2025, the Vodacom Board approved a settlement agreement, and the matter was settled by the parties out of court. The parties are glad that finality has been reached in this regard.
“The settlement has been accounted for in the Group’s interim results for the six-month period ended 30 September 2025, subsequent to the publication of a trading statement on SENS on 31 October 2025 related to those interim results.”
The telecommunication giant did not disclose the settlement amount.
Vodacom vs Makate
On 8 February 2022, the Pretoria High Court ruled Makate was entitled to 5% of Vodacom’s revenue generated from his invention for the past two decades.
“The determination (R47m) by the CEO is referred back to Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub, who is obliged to make a fresh determination with the following directives: The applicant (Makate) is entitled to be paid 5% of the total voice revenue generated from the PCM product from March 2001 to March 2021,” read Judge Wendy Hughes’ judgment.
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Vodacom appealed the matter in the Supreme Court of Appeal, where its application was dismissed.
In the SCA, a judgment written by Judge Ashton Schippers, reviewed and set aside Vodacom’s decision to offer R47 million to Makate as compensation for creating the Please Call Me.
The court ordered Joosub to recalculate and make a fresh determination of the amount owed to Makate.
According to the judgment, Makate is entitled to receive 5% to 7.5% of the total revenue generated by the service product for the communications company.
The matter reached the Constitutional Court this year, and in August, the apex court referred the legal battle back to the SCA.
As part of the settlement process, Vodacom sent a notice to the SCA withdrawing Vodacom’s appeal. Additionally, a notice was sent to the High Court requesting that it abandon the judgment of 8 February 2022.
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