The Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa has ordered Vodacom to pay Kenneth Nkosana Makate a sum between R28.99 billion and R55.37 billion for his Please Call Me concept, according to court documents observed by MyBroadband.
The amount is considerably higher than previous assumptions derived from Makate’s initial statements and High Court submissions.
According to the Supreme Court’s ruling, Makate is entitled to receive 5%–7.5% of the total revenue from the Please Call Me product dating from March 2001 to the judgment date. The total revenue from Please Call Me is determined by Models 9A, 9B & 9BB that Makate submitted.
Projects from these models, obtained and summarised by MyBroadband, estimated a total call revenue of R194.8 billion generated by Please Call Me over 18 years. The calculations factored in the volume of Please Call Me messages sent over this period, their success rate, and the average call duration and revenue.
Model 9A, which assumed a 15% revenue share, also included additional revenues from Please Call Me advertising, “Recharge Me”, and an estimated figure of revenue generated outside South Africa, bringing the total Please Call Me revenue to R273.39 billion.
The table below summarizes how much the court effectively ordered Vodacom to pay Makate an amount within these estimations in its ruling on 6 February 2024.
| Compensation / Revenue share | Model 9A | Model 9A (call revenue only) | Model 9B/9BB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% revenue share with Mora Interest | ~R43 billion | ~R30 billion | R28.99 billion |
| 5% revenue share with Special Interest | ~R55 billion | ~R37 billion | R36.91 billion |
| 7.5% revenue share with Mora Interest | N/A (Over R55 billion) | ~R44 billion | R43.48 billion |
| 7.5% revenue share with Special Interest | N/A (Over R55 billion) | R55+ billion | R55.37 billion |
| The amounts above are based on those provided by Makate’s legal team and accepted by the Supreme Court. | |||
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