WATCH: Please Call Me Movement leader ‘prepared to die’ in heated interview on SABC

EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu and several others took to Twitter to give SABC presenter Francis Herd a tongue-lashing for what Shivambu called her “out of order” and “unprofessional” interview with the leader of the “Please Call Me Movement”, Modise Setoaba.

According to the second-in-command of the red berets, the Full View interviewer was “overwhelmed by subjectivity” and didn’t want to listen to her interview subject.

Shivambu thought she was “ignorant”, regarding the ConCourt decision on the matter, as she took the position that Vodacom may have offered the inventor of the Please Call Me service “billions” in a confidential offer and he may not have been reasonable in turning it down.

The @SABCNewsOnline Newsreader was totally out of order & unprofessional in this interview. She’s overwhelmed by subjectivity &doesn’t want to list to the person she’s interviewing. There’s a Concourt deck in on the #PleaseCallMe matter and she’s ignorant. pic.twitter.com/y5llrt73RV

— Floyd Shivambu (@FloydShivambu) January 31, 2019

The clip posted by Shivambu begins with Setoaba expressing his willingness to die for his cause.

“What we’re saying is if Chris Hani died for his freedom, we’re prepared to die for this compensation for Mr Makate,” he said.

Herd responded: “Even if Vodacom has offered him six and a half billion rand? Sixty-five billion rand? You have no idea what Vodacom has offered him.”

She added: “The editor of Tech Central, who has been following this for a very long time says there is proof that MTN in fact came up with that service. So this is a legal matter. Mr Makate must be treated fairly, I agree, but we should not bring emotion into this. Should there not be a fair settlement, should the courts not decide? You are protesting without any proof of anything,” she continued.

READ MORE: ‘Please Call Me’ lawsuit funder calls Vodacom’s R49m offer ‘generous’

“I see the narrative you’re trying to portray,” Setoaba replied.

He then went into a technical explanation of the difference between MTN and Vodacom’s technology.

“Mr Makate is the inventor of the Please Call Me service. The Please Call Me service is a USSD SMA service. The MTN service is an IVR service … those are two different protocols,” he said.

“Let’s not get into the technicalities,” said Herd, before telling Setoaba that he was allegedly “still protesting without knowing what Mr Makate has been offered”.

READ MORE: Vodacom says MTN invented the ‘Please Call Me’ first

The interview continued, with Setoaba calling on Herd to “Give me a chance to explain myself … what you’re doing is you are denying Mr Makate as an inventor. You are creating a narrative that he doesn’t deserve what he deserves,” he alleged.

READ MORE: #PleaseCallMeMovement protests close Vodaworld

“No, what I’m saying is I don’t know what’s a fair settlement. You don’t know if it’s a fair settlement. This could play out in the courts. Why are you protesting in the interim?” Herd asked.

Setoaba then compared the case to that of Lewis Howard Latimer, an African-American who was employed by Alexander Graham Bell to draft drawings required for him to receive a patent for the telephone, and who some believe either invented or helped invent the telephone and the light bulb, only for Bell to take all the credit.

“Why is it so difficult for the black man to get what he deserves?” he asked.

“Is this about him being a black man?” Herd asked.

Their back-and-forth culminated in Setoaba saying, “I’m not answering questions. You are running the interview and also answering.”

Speaking to talk radio station 702 on Thursday, Chris Schoeman, who helped fund Makate’s lawsuit againt Vodacom, revealed the telecoms company had offered Makate R49 million.

He added that, in his view, this was a generous offer and Makate should take it.

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