Vodacom has finally decided to settle the long-drawn court battle with its former employee Nkosana Makate. The employee has been claiming to be the originator of the telecom’s popular call-back service ‘Please Call Me.’
Yet at the time Vodacom was launching the service, they made the entire world believe it was the then company CEO, Alan Knott-Craig, who came up with the idea. Makate has been alleging he presented the idea to the product development team while he was working in the finance division of Vodacom in the early 2000s.
The case between Makate and Vodacom has been long drawn in courts and reached a major deadlock in negotiations in October 2018. However, the company’s current CEO Shameel Joosub has struck a deal he describes as “reasonable compensation.”
“Vodacom can confirm that the group CEO has met with legal representatives to convey his decision and determination on reasonable compensation,” said Byron Kennedy, a spokesman for the telecom company.
“In the spirit of the confidentiality agreement, both parties signed as part of the negotiating process, Vodacom will not disclose the amount set by the CEO… Vodacom considers the matter as finally settled and closed.”