Kenneth Makate is either a very shrewd negotiator, or he’s really dropped the ball here.

Makate and Vodacom have been at war for what seems like an eternity over the ‘Please Call Me’ invention, and during the almost-decade-long battle, there have been plenty of twists and turns.

It’s all come to a head today, as protestors ‘shut down’ Vodacom’s HQ in Midrand to show support for Makate, who they believe is owed a cool R70 billion by the cellphone company.

Whilst figures were often thrown around with regards what settlement Vodacom had offered Makate, we now have a number, thanks to litigation funder Chris Schoeman.

That number is a cool R49 million.

MyBroadband reports:

Schoeman made the statement during an interview on 702 about the Please Call Me battle.

Schoeman said he met Makate in 2011, and helped fund Makate’s legal battle against Vodacom – which ultimately resulted in the Constitutional Court ruling that the company must pay Makate “reasonable compensation” for his help on the Please Call Me.

The amount Vodacom offered Makate had previously only been rumour, as both parties signed non-disclosure agreements regarding the compensation negotiations.

Schoeman said the R49-million offer is very generous, and Makate should take it. He added that he instructed his lawyers to tell Makate’s lawyers to take the offer, as Schoeman is owed money for the legal funding he provided Makate.

The reason why Makate is not accepting the offer is because he is technically “bankrupt” and owes many people a lot of money.

Schoeman said that after Makate won his Constitutional Court battle against Vodacom, he went on a “spending spree” and people were throwing money at him.

This has left him in serious debt, said Schoeman.

Hang on, he blew through it all before it even landed in his pocket? Those are some pretty serious allegations.

The Vodacom ‘shutdown’ fire is being fuelled, in large part, by Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi, who has been very vocal on Twitter.

Lesufi is asking quite a bit from those who feel Makate has been hard done by, with this from another MyBroadband story:

[He] has requested all South Africans to stop using Vodacom products and services, in a bid to put pressure on the mobile network…

“There is a serious commercial injustice here,” said Lesufi [below].

Should Vodacom fail to pay Makate by February 1, Lefusi said that drastic steps would be taken, including:

• All Vodacom products will be boycotted.
• South Africans must not attend any Vodacom-sponsored event.
• All Vodacom contract users must cancel their contracts.
• All Vodacom users must take airtime and data advances and refuse to pay for them.
• All people must stop buying Vodacom data.
• Government institutions must cancel their Vodacom contracts.
• Vodafone will be contacted over how Vodacom is handling this matter.

Yeah, not gonna happen.

Vodacom has stated that they are ready and willing to pay Makate, but he’s clearly not happy with that R49 million amount. Reports suggest that he will once again head back to court.

One of the organisers behind the Vodacom shutdown, Modise Setoaba, appeared this morning on SABC’s Full View. He said he was willing to die to ensure Makate was fairly compensated:

Modise dealt with this new Vodacom Spokesperson very nicely #PleasecallMeMovement#PleaseCallMe #vodacom pic.twitter.com/Q33tb5QVCh

— uNdlunkulu Xoli (@uNdlunkulu_Xoli) January 31, 2019

Clearly, with emotions running this high, the issue won’t be going away any time soon.

[sources:mybb&mybb]