Please Call Me inventor Nkosana Makate is facing a new obstacle in his decades-long legal battle against Vodacom — a legal bill of nearly R13 million for one day of arguments in the Constitutional Court.
According to The Citizen, Makate is disputing the costs order that accompanied the court’s July 2025 ruling, which found in favour of Vodacom and sent the case back to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) for reconsideration.
The judgment followed Vodacom’s successful appeal against a February 2024 SCA decision that had awarded Makate between 5% and 7.5% of all revenue generated from the Please Call Me service since 2001 — an amount estimated to be worth between R29 billion and R63 billion .
Makate, a former trainee accountant at Vodacom, said he accepts the Constitutional Court’s ruling overturning his earlier victory but rejects the order requiring him to pay Vodacom’s legal costs.
“I do not agree with the awarding of costs in favour of Vodacom,” Makate told IOL.
“During the same Constitutional Court process, I had to defend two amicus curiaeapplications – one from Vodafone and another from Yebo Yethu, both shareholders of Vodacom. The Constitutional Court dismissed both, but did not award me costs.”
The nearly R13 million bill stems from Vodacom’s request that the court allow the company to recover the costs of employing three senior counsel. Acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, who delivered the ruling, agreed with Vodacom’s request, citing the “size of the record, the complexity and novelty of the issues, and the very large amount at stake.”
He noted that Makate himself had employed three senior advocates, or silks, in addition to other lawyers, justifying the same allowance for Vodacom’s legal team .
The dispute over costs adds a caveat to a legal battle that has lasted more than 17 years.
In 2016, the Constitutional Court recognised Makate as the originator of the Please Call Me service — a free text function that allows mobile users to request a callback without using airtime.
The court ordered Vodacom to negotiate “reasonable compensation” with Makate. However, Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub later offered R47 million, a figure Makate rejected as inadequate.
After negotiations failed, the matter returned to court. The SCA ruled earlier this year that Vodacom’s offer was “unreasonable” and replaced it with its own formula, which substantially increased the potential payout.
Vodacom then approached the Constitutional Court, arguing that the SCA had exceeded its authority by substituting its judgment for the company’s internal decision-making process.
Madlanga agreed, setting aside the SCA ruling and remitting the matter to a new panel of judges at the appeal court for review.
Makate’s legal representatives from Stemela & Lubbe Attorneys have indicated that they will challenge the costs order, arguing that the bill is excessive and unfair given the circumstances of the case.
The Constitutional Court’s registry confirmed that the costs were calculated based on standard rates for three senior counsel appearing for a full-day hearing.
For Makate, the latest setback represents another delay in his pursuit of compensation for the idea that changed South Africa’s mobile communications landscape.
He has maintained that Vodacom profited from his invention for over two decades without fair payment.
The SCA is now expected to re-hear the matter, though no date has been set. For now, Makate remains determined to continue his fight, saying that while “justice may take time,” he will not give up on seeking what he believes is owed to him.
