Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema. Picture: Jacques Nelles
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has joined a number of South Africans who are calling on Vodacom to end its years-long legal battle with ‘Please Call Me’ inventor Nkosana Makate.
This comes after Vodacom announced it would appeal the ruling of the Supreme Court of Appeal which ruled against the mobile communications giant.
On Tuesday, the SCA Judge Ashton Schippers reviewed and set aside Vodacom’s decision to offer R47 million to Makate as compensation for creating the ‘Please Call Me’.
ALSO READ: ‘Please Call Me’ inventor awaiting calculations after SCA sets aside Vodacom’s R47m offer
The court ordered Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub to calculate and make a fresh determination on how much is owed to Makate within one month.
Vodacom was ordered to finalise the determination within 30 days.
According to the judgment, Makate is entitled to be paid 5% to 7.5% of the total revenue the service product generated for the communications company over an 18-year period.
Noting the judgment on Wednesday, Vodacom said it was “surprised and disappointed”, and would bring an application for leave to appeal before the Constitutional Court within the prescribed period.
ALSO READ: Vodacom’s denial of ‘Please call me data’ is ‘quite absurd’ says former accountant
Vodacom and Makate have been trending on social media since, with South Africans voicing their frustrations with the seemingly never-ending case.
Taking to social media, Malema slammed the mobile communications giant for appealing the ruling instead of ending the battle with a settlement as ordered by the court.
“It’s high time Vodacom stops its nonsense and takes full responsibility,” said Malema.
“What started as a simple transactional dispute between two parties has now become a national irritation because they think they can bully him. Appealing to the Constitutional Court to fight the SCA ruling in favour of Makate is entirely unnecessary. Please don’t say we are not nice people, be warned.”
Malema called on Vodacom to show its good intentions by going through a mediation process instead of approaching the ConCourt.
ALSO READ: ‘Order Vodacom to pay me R10 billion,’ Please Call Me inventor tells court
“The manner in which you are treating an African brother with arrogance is unacceptable and will not be tolerated any longer. This issue will be resolved by the end of this year, don’t ask how, but it will be resolved this year. Please note that if you have a solution to offer, you must contact Makate directly and not me,” he said.
