Back in 2001 a Vodacom employee by the name of Kenneth Makate pitched the "please call me" idea to the company which allows people with a zero balance to still remain connected. My kids used it when they needed something and I would phone them back which generates revenue for the service provider.
This "please call me" service generated huge amounts of revenue with an estimated value of R560 billion or roughly $30 billion. Makate was offered R10 million in 2016 which was then raised to R47 million which Makate rejected. Two days ago the court ruled in his favor stating Vodacom needs to respond with a decent offer in the region of between 5 and 7.5% of all revenue generated plus interest within 30 days. This would mean Makate is due in the region of $1 billion less the legal fees which is being funded by a litigation fund which will take a fair sized chunk for their investment.
Vodacom have clearly done wrong here and I have mixed views on this because if you are working for a company which he was any ideas are to help the company prosper. I suppose times have changed with what employees expect in return. Vodacom should have paid for the idea as soon as it was deemed successful and there should have been no waiting period. With the company not coming forward with any offers I don't blame him for fighting his case as he has been done wrong.
No one knew immediately that this would be such a huge revenue earner and Makate should have been compensated and not have been asking for compensation. If Makate had been paid early on this would not have been a legal battle that is now going to cost Vodacom dearly.
The Vodacom's actions are what is being bought into question because any decent company would have offered something for an idea that generated so much revenue. It took Makate 6 years to lodge a request and this should never have been encessary. Makate I am sure would have taken a deal from the company within the first 6 months for a few million instead of the company now having to pay a whopping $1 billion.
Most companies would bank on the idea that a private individual could not fund such a court case that has been ongoing for 16 years now. Most would accept a settlement and walk away with the likes of Vodacom winning due to their financial clout. Vodacom were not counting on the litigation fund financing the legal fees which they normally work on a 1/8 ratio and why they select cases they can win.
My feeling is Makate was done wrong and this needs to be made right so Vodacom need to pay what is now due and it is their own fault. I have no sympathy for this type of behavior because it should never have got to this point.
I do think it would have been a different story if you were an employee in a smaller company and not just a number in a huge organisation. I know exactly what it is like as I have worked in both scenarios and being one of thousands of employees is not easy to receive recognition.
I can see Vodacom still appealing this court ruling trying to drag this out longer and the longer they do this the more they must pay. 18 years is a long time frame and can only imagine living under these circumstances what it would do to someone mentally.