Nkosana Makate
Kenneth Nkosana Makate (1977) is a South African who invented the "Please Call Me" concept. Makate shared the concept with his employer Vodacom and they used it but he was not paid for it. He laid a charge against Vodacom and won the case against them after an 8-year battle.[1]
Legal case
Vodacom started the Please Call Me service in 2001.[2] A 2014 judgement in the South Gauteng High Court supported Makate's claim to having originated Please Call Me. It also rejected former CEO Alan Knott-Craig (Senior)'s claim that he had come up with the idea of the messaging service. Yet the High Court found against Makate, holding that Geissler had not had the authority to promise Makate such compensation and that the debt would have expired (in legal terms, been prescribed) within three years.
Makate appealed the case, and later took it to the Constitutional Court. In April 2016 Justice Chris Jafta found in Makate's favour and against Vodacom.[3]