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Johannesburg - The man, who claims mobile operator Vodacom [JSE:VOD] stole the Please Call Me idea from him and without compensation, says he still admires former CEO Alan Knott-Craig and uses the Vodacom service, City Press reports.
An estimated 38 million Please Calls Mes are sent every day.
Lawyers closed their case in Nkosana Makate's civil claim against Vodacom on Thursday. A date for closing arguments would probably be set for September.
Makate is an accountant by profession and claims to be the originator of the popular Please Call Me mobile phone service.
He claims he had a verbal contract with Vodacom, entitling him to a share in the proceeds from the successful innovation.
He claims the executive for product development at the time, Philip Geissler, promised in an oral agreement to facilitate remuneration negotiations with the company.
After 13 years of trying to resolve the matter, he decided to sue Vodacom for compensation for the idea.
The matter has been heard in the South Gauteng High Court for the past few weeks.
Makate claims he invented the concept while working as a junior accountant at Vodacom in 2000.
On Wednesday an emotional Knott-Craig testified that the notion of an employee seeking compensation for an idea was foreign to him.
He said Vodacom had not had a revenue-sharing agreement with its employees.
Knott-Craig claims he invented the concept himself in a classic eureka moment, standing on a balcony watching two security guards trying to communicate through missed calls.
Makate’s version is that his idea started with his cash-strapped girlfriend (now his wife), who was a student at Fort Hare University at the time.
A lack of money for airtime was interfering with their long-distance relationship.
After a few months of communication failures in early 2000, Makate claims he developed his idea and claims he ultimately presented it to his superiors.
“She was not able to call me. That is how the idea was born," he claims.
"I wanted to change the system so that people without airtime could initiate calls. I knew I would call back and talk for hours. That’s how the company would make money."
While Vodacom operationalised the concept, “the whole package was already there”, he said.
“The truth is the truth. Everybody knows I came up with it.”
Although Makate pitched his idea in 2000, he only left Vodacom in 2003 after completing his articles at the Midrand-based company.
“I knew the company had done me wrong,” he says. “But I could not fight from within. I had to leave first.”
He then started seeking legal advice, suffered a spell of depression and spent a lot of money during his campaign for recognition.
“It has occupied every aspect of my life,” he said.
These days, Makate is studying sociology and psychology at Wits University.
He claims the case before the court deals with a far larger issue than the Please Call Me invention.
"The 'beastliness' in the corporate world relates to how resources are shared, he said. “Ideas are worth a lot. I think people should be paid for them."
Makate has a patent for a cellular service called I’ve Arrived. It came out of his experience as a taxi owner.
An estimated 38 million Please Calls Mes are sent every day.
Lawyers closed their case in Nkosana Makate's civil claim against Vodacom on Thursday. A date for closing arguments would probably be set for September.
Makate is an accountant by profession and claims to be the originator of the popular Please Call Me mobile phone service.
He claims he had a verbal contract with Vodacom, entitling him to a share in the proceeds from the successful innovation.
He claims the executive for product development at the time, Philip Geissler, promised in an oral agreement to facilitate remuneration negotiations with the company.
After 13 years of trying to resolve the matter, he decided to sue Vodacom for compensation for the idea.
The matter has been heard in the South Gauteng High Court for the past few weeks.
Makate claims he invented the concept while working as a junior accountant at Vodacom in 2000.
On Wednesday an emotional Knott-Craig testified that the notion of an employee seeking compensation for an idea was foreign to him.
He said Vodacom had not had a revenue-sharing agreement with its employees.
Knott-Craig claims he invented the concept himself in a classic eureka moment, standing on a balcony watching two security guards trying to communicate through missed calls.
Makate’s version is that his idea started with his cash-strapped girlfriend (now his wife), who was a student at Fort Hare University at the time.
A lack of money for airtime was interfering with their long-distance relationship.
After a few months of communication failures in early 2000, Makate claims he developed his idea and claims he ultimately presented it to his superiors.
“She was not able to call me. That is how the idea was born," he claims.
"I wanted to change the system so that people without airtime could initiate calls. I knew I would call back and talk for hours. That’s how the company would make money."
While Vodacom operationalised the concept, “the whole package was already there”, he said.
“The truth is the truth. Everybody knows I came up with it.”
Although Makate pitched his idea in 2000, he only left Vodacom in 2003 after completing his articles at the Midrand-based company.
“I knew the company had done me wrong,” he says. “But I could not fight from within. I had to leave first.”
He then started seeking legal advice, suffered a spell of depression and spent a lot of money during his campaign for recognition.
“It has occupied every aspect of my life,” he said.
These days, Makate is studying sociology and psychology at Wits University.
He claims the case before the court deals with a far larger issue than the Please Call Me invention.
"The 'beastliness' in the corporate world relates to how resources are shared, he said. “Ideas are worth a lot. I think people should be paid for them."
Makate has a patent for a cellular service called I’ve Arrived. It came out of his experience as a taxi owner.
