Vodacom and Makate settle please call me case

Cellular Network giants Vodacom have reached an out-of-court settlement in the Please Call Me matter with Nkosana Makate, a matter which has dragged on in South Africa’s courts since 2008. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Makate and Vodacom have been fighting over the former’s Please Call Me idea for over two decades.

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“The matter has been settled by the parties. Both parties are glad that finality has been reached in this regard,” Vodacom said in a statement published to the JSE news service on Wednesday.

“On 4 November 2025, the Vodacom board approved a settlement agreement, and the matter was settled by the parties out of court.

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The company also stated that the settlement has been accounted for in the group’s interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2025. They are due to be released on 10 November.

“As part of the settlement process, a notice was sent to the Supreme Court of Appeal withdrawing Vodacom’s appeal,” they said.

“Additionally, a notice was sent to the High Court to abandon the 8 February 2022 judgment.”

The group had previously offered Makate around R47 million. But he continued his court action, hoping to get around R10 billion from Vodacom.