Vodacom and Makate reach out-of-court settlement

17-year ‘Please Call Me’ battle ends as Vodacom and Makate reach out-of-court settlement

Bulelwa Hoala

Vodacom and Nkosana Makate have reached an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed amount, ending the 17-year “Please Call Me” legal battle.
The dispute began in 2000, with Makate claiming he invented the service and was initially offered R47 million, which he rejected; the Supreme Court of Appeal later ruled he was entitled to 5%–7.5% of revenue from 2001–2021.
As part of the settlement, Vodacom withdrew its appeal and abandoned the 2022 High Court judgment, following a Constitutional Court ruling ordering Makate to pay Vodacom’s legal costs of about R13 million.

Vodacom and Kenneth Nkosana Makate have reached an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed amount, bringing an end to the 17-year-long “Please Call Me” legal battle.

The telecommunications company confirmed the settlement in a statement addressed to its shareholders on Wednesday, 5 November 2025, confirming that the board had approved it.

“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 statement reads.

As part of the settlement, Vodacom has withdrawn its appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal and abandoned the 8 February 2022 High Court judgment.

Makate confirmed the settlement on his X account and wrote, “In response to media queries, indeed, the ‘Please Call Me’ matter has been settled and is subject to confidentiality.”

This follows a recent Constitutional Court ruling that ordered Makate to cover Vodacom’s legal expenses, totaling approximately R13 million, after Vodacom successfully appealed to overturn a previous Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) decision.

The legal battle between Vodacom and Makate started in 2000, after Makate claimed he had invented the “Please Call Me” service, which allows mobile users to send free call-back requests when they have no airtime.

Vodacom had initially offered Makate about R47 million in compensation, but he rejected it as unreasonably low.

The Supreme Court of Appeal later ruled that Makate was entitled to between 5% and 7.5% of the total revenue generated by the service from March 2001 to March 2021, a figure estimated to be worth between R29 billion and R63 billion.

See the full statement below: