Vodacom offered Please Call Me ‘inventor’, Nkosana Makate, a settlement of R49 million – but he turned it down,\u00a0according to\u00a0Chris Schoeman, one\u00a0of Makate\u2019s former litigation funders.<\/p>\n
Speaking to 702’s<\/a><\/strong> Bongani Bingwa on Thursday (31 January), Schoeman said that the claim that\u00a0Makate was entitled to a settlement in the billions of rands was outrageous.<\/p>\n “I know that Vodacom has rewarded R49 million and I think this (is) overly generous,” he said.<\/p>\n “I have an interest in that award, and I have instructed my attorneys to speak to him and accept the offer as he does not have legal basis for refusing.”<\/p>\n Schoeman said that he had also instructed Makate to accept the offer as some of it belonged to him for helping fund the litigation.<\/p>\n He added that part of the reason Makate was holding out for more was because\u00a0very little of the money would actually end up\u00a0in his hands.<\/p>\n “When he won the Constitutional case, he went on a spending spree second to none,” said Schoeman.<\/p>\n “The present situation – I’m telling you now- is that he owes a lot more money than is being offered by Vodacom. This means that he cannot accept it.”<\/p>\n Shut down<\/strong><\/p>\n Vodacom shut down its headquarters and Vodacom World mall on Thursday as it prepared for protest action by members of the ‘Please Call Me Movement’.<\/p>\n Headed up by Modise Setoaba, the movement has organised the protest demanding that a settlement with Kenneth Makate be reached.<\/p>\n It claims that Vodacom owes Makate R70 billion for his Please Call Me idea – almost a third of the company’s market cap<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Several politicians including the Minister of Communications, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, have voiced their support\u00a0for Makate and have called on Vodacom to reach an agreement with Makate.<\/p>\n In preparing for the protests. MyBroadband reported that Vodacom has effectively shut down its headquarters.<\/p>\n Vodacom World’s gates were locked early this morning and guards blocked the entrances.<\/p>\n It added that there was a low-key police presence and that an armoured SAPS Nyala could be seen on the grounds, it said.<\/p>\n While there was little action when MyBroadband<\/a> <\/strong>visited the premises early on Thursday morning, the movement has claimed that Vodacom has until 10h00 to resolve its stalemate with Makate before it moves to ‘shut down Vodacom’.<\/p>\n
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