Shamir Joosab, CEO of Vodacom. (Photo: Garo Images)
Vodacom plans to take the case to the Constitutional Court challenging the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling that it must decide a new remuneration for 'Please Call Me' inventor Nkosana Makate. be. He is entitled to a portion of the proceeds from the work. 18 years of service.
“Vodacom is surprised and disappointed by this judgment and will apply to the South African Constitutional Court for a stay of appeal within the prescribed period,” South Africa's largest mobile phone company said in a statement on Wednesday morning.
The SCA on Tuesday rejected Vodacom's application for leave to appeal against an earlier judgment by the High Court in Pretoria, but also suspended Vodacom chief executive Shamir Joosab's R47-million award, among other issues. Some parts were replaced.
Vodacom will now have to decide on a new offer under which Makate will be entitled to between 5% and 7.5% of the product's gross revenue, the court ruled. This also requires taking into account the time value of money, calculated at an interest rate of 5% per year from March 2001 to February 2019.
Jusab was ordered to finalize this new offer within one month of the order.
Jusab initially capped Makate's contract at five years. The SCA noted that while the compensation offered by Joosub was determined based on this period, the Please Call Me product had been generating revenue for a much longer period of time. “This misconduct makes the CEO's decision irrational and patently unfair.”
Launched in February 2001, the Please Call Me service allowed Vodacom subscribers to send “Please Call Me” text messages to another user on the same network for free. Mr Makate had said in an earlier court hearing that the system, which he invented during his time at Vodacom, had earned the company about R70 billion in revenue.