The legal battle between Kenneth Makate and Vodacom over compensation for his Please Call Me idea has taken another turn with Makate demanding far more money from Vodacom.<\/p>\n
The Sunday Times reported<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that Makate approached the North Gauteng High Court to challenge the R47 million (previously reported to be R49 million) which Vodacom offered him for the idea.<\/p>\n This amount was determined by Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub, who Makate argues acted \u201cirregularly, unreasonably, irrationally, unfairly, unjustly and inequitably\u201d.<\/p>\n Vodacom said, as per a Constitutional Court order, its CEO has determined the amount of reasonable compensation payable to Makate and considered the matter as settled and closed.<\/p>\n Makate wants R10.25 billion from Vodacom<\/strong><\/p>\n Makate said while he appreciates that R47 million for an idea sounds like a lot of money, it is nothing compared to how much Vodacom made from Please Call Me.<\/p>\n He said calculations by his team estimate that Please Call Me earned Vodacom R205 billion from 2001.<\/p>\n Makate wants 5% of the total revenue which Vodacom generated from Please Call Me, with interest, from March 2001.<\/p>\n Based on his calculations this equates to a minimum of R10.25 billion which will make him one of the richest people in South Africa.<\/p>\n Most Vodacom has ever paid for the idea<\/strong><\/p>\n Vodacom\u2019s R47 million offer (or R49 according to previous reports) to Makate is much higher than any previous offer for an idea from the company.<\/p>\n Vodacom has previously revealed<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that R500,000 is the highest amount it has ever paid for an idea that helped the company.<\/p>\n Vodacom runs an Ideation programme to encourage employees to come up with ideas to help the company, with an annual prize pot of up to R1 million, after tax.<\/p>\n The exact allocation per winner and runners-up can vary, but first place winners have previously received R500,000, after tax, on a number of occasions.<\/p>\n South African rich list<\/strong><\/p>\n Should Makate\u2019s demands be met he will immediately become one of the richest people in South Africa.<\/p>\n With R10.25 billion in the bank Makate will overtake some of South Africa\u2019s most successful business people, some of who have built their wealth over decades.<\/p>\n