Nkosana Makate, Please Call Me inventor

First Thing is First | In a victory judgment for “Please Call Me” (PCM) inventor Nkosana Makate yesterday, the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria found he was shortchanged by Vodacom and that the cellphone giant must go back to the drawing board to come up with a suitable amount. The court gave Vodacom’s CEO Shameel Joosub one month in which to recalculate what is owed to Makate, using the guidelines issued by the court. Judge Wendy Hughes made it clear that the calculations used by Joosub earlier in offering Makate R47 million, for what the judge called a brilliant invention, was by far too conservative and he is entitled to at least   5% of total voice revenue generated by his invention. The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria also ordered that Makate is entitled to 27% of the revenue generated by the return of calls sent through the Please Call Me platform The Please Call Me service, which was launched in February 2001, allowed Vodacom subscribers to send a 'Please Call Me' text message free of charge to another user on the same network. Makate had in previous court hearings stated that the Please Call Me system, which he invented while employed by Vodacom, had earned the company about R70 billion in revenue. Makate and Vodacom have been involved in the protracted court battle over payment for the concept since 2008.    Guest: Nkosana Makate, Please Call Me inventor