Vodacom Group Ltd. and former employee Kenneth Makate plan to enter private talks to discuss his compensation for a popular call-back phone service he proposed more than two decades ago, hoping to reach an out-of-court settlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A February majority judgment by South Africa\u2019s Supreme Court of Appeal would entitle Makate to compensation ranging between R29 billion and R63 billion, which would have \u201cdevastating consequences\u201d for the mobile-network operator, its employees and its investors, the Johannesburg-based Vodacom said in papers filed Feb. 26 to the Constitutional Court to appeal the SCA decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The case has gone back and forth for many years as Vodacom and Makate wrangle over compensation for the \u2018Please Call Me\u2019 idea he proposed to the company\u2019s product-development team when he worked in the finance division in the 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vodacom \u201casked for private talks and I will surely oblige and engage them,\u201d Makate said in response to questions Monday, adding that talks are planned for Tuesday<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He also said he will file opposing papers in the Constitutional Court on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A 2016 order by the Constitutional Court said Vodacom Chief Executive Officer Shameel Joosub should work out fair compensation, which Joosub calculated at R47 million at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vodacom declined to comment on the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vodacom, a unit of Vodafone Group Plc, said a payout of the magnitude outlined in the February court decision would collapse its broad-based Black economic empowerment structure known as Yebo Yethu because it would cause a so-called trigger event, where the equity value of Vodacom Group shares falls below the debt in Yebo Yethu, which has about 80,000 Black shareholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe shareholders\u2019 investment in the fund would be wiped out and it would essentially be dissolved,\u201d Vodacom said in the court papers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Makate said Vodacom\u2019s observations about Yebo Yethu were \u201csimply misleading.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A R40 billion payout would wipe out 20% of Vodacom\u2019s market value, and have \u201ca direct impact\u201d on major institutional shareholders that include the state-controlled Public Investment Corp., which manages government employees\u2019 pension funds and has about 1.3 million active members and 473,000 pensioners, the mobile carrier said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSimply put, the harm that the majority judgment would cause to Vodacom goes far beyond the amount of any payment to Mr. Makate,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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