{"id":265227,"date":"2025-11-10T11:45:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T12:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/?p=265227"},"modified":"2025-11-11T05:03:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T05:03:07","slug":"beyond-money-the-significance-of-the-please-call-me-settlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/builder\/beyond-money-the-significance-of-the-please-call-me-settlement\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond money: The significance of the Please Call Me settlement"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post<\/a> was originally published on this site<\/a><\/p>

<\/p>\n

As news about the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d secretive settlement was streaming, many wondered about the settlement amount. <\/span><\/p>\n

As someone who covered the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d matter, I reflected on this moment and its meaning. I think it will take time before we fully realise its true meaning. <\/span><\/p>\n

As many have done over the past few days, it\u2019s easy to minimise the issue to be just about money, hence the speculations about the amount of the settlement.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to argue that there was more to the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d matter than just money. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is not to say that remuneration was not a factor. In my view, money was just a by-product of key factors in the matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t talk about the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d matter without reflecting about the man, Nkosana Kenneth Makate.<\/span><\/p>\n

I cannot think of a moment of engagement with him that was without a deep sense of conviction and unwavering belief in justice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Makate believed strongly that an injustice had been committed and it had to be corrected whatever it took.<\/span> Many of us forget that the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d matter started  in his early twenties. The young man then was an accountancy intern at Vodacom who had a deep understanding of township conditions since he grew up in Katlehong. When he experienced the challenges of connecting with his girlfriend (now his wife) he thought of a solution that would enable communication without paying a fee. This was a case for many South Africans. His challenge gave birth to the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d idea – what almost became a career defining and life long battle. Unfortunately, a corporate leader at the time felt that the tag of an inventor of the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d idea was more appropriate for him instead of Makate.<\/span><\/p>\n

The question of who was the inventor of the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d idea became one of the greatest technology and intellectual property court battles in South Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n

This battle of giving credit where it\u2019s due was not new. Many of those who are from previously disadvantaged communities have been victims of the same issue. Instead of being acknowledged for their inventions they are deliberately forgotten by technology history books. Makate understood this very well and he wanted to change the course of history not only for him but for generations to come. <\/span><\/p>\n

Makate fought hard for young innovators. As crazy as it may sound, he has shown that it is possible for a township boy to be registered in technology history books as an inventor of a key technology. <\/span><\/p>\n

He did not only fight for young innovators from township communities he has shown us that technology ideas matter. Many pundits, arm chair experts and those who thought they know everything have been proven wrong. Many argued that technology ideas mean nothing, however  Makate has shown us that technology ideas do matter. He consulted with those in the know in Silicon Valley legal minds and institutions, where ideas truly matter. In Silicon Valley, it is understood that great innovations are born twice. Firstly as ideas and designs, secondly as products that are impacting the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

He forced the South African legal system to think about valuing technology ideas and he has succeeded in doing so. The battle of acknowledging ideas from township is not over. During my online interaction with Makate at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, he indicated to me that he would spend some of his \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d earnings towards funding young people from previously disadvantaged communities. I do hope that this moment will inspire many to support the idea of funding the unfunded, those inventors who are never acknowledged. His court cases will no doubt serve as a lesson in the legal fraternity  by setting a precedent. His book when he finally writes one will serve as an important piece of technology history that may inspire inventors from township communities to fight for their ideas and, more importantly, implement them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wesley Diphoko is a Technology Analyst and Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company (South Africa) magazine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wesley Diphoko is a Technologist Analyst and Editor-In-Chief of FastCompany (SA) magazine<\/em>.<\/b><\/p>\n

*** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or <\/span>IOL<\/span>.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

BUSINESS REPORT<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As news about the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d secretive settlement was streaming, many wondered about the settlement amount.\u00a0As someone who covered the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d matter, I reflected on this moment and its meaning. I think it will take time before we fully realise its true meaning.\u00a0As many have done over the past few days, it\u2019s easy to minimise the issue to be just about money, hence the speculations about the amount of the settlement.I\u2019d like to argue that there was more to the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d matter than just money.\u00a0This is not to say that remuneration was not a factor. In my view, money was just a by-product of key factors in the matter.I can\u2019t talk about the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d matter without reflecting about the man, Nkosana Kenneth Makate.I cannot think of a moment of engagement with him that was without a deep sense of conviction and unwavering belief in justice.Makate believed strongly that an injustice had been committed and it had to be corrected whatever it took. Many of us forget that the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d matter started\u00a0 in his early twenties. The young man then was an accountancy intern at Vodacom who had a deep understanding of township conditions since he grew up in Katlehong. When he experienced the challenges of connecting with his girlfriend (now his wife) he thought of a solution that would enable communication without paying a fee. This was a case for many South Africans. His challenge gave birth to the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d idea – what almost became a career defining and life long battle. Unfortunately, a corporate leader at the time felt that the tag of an inventor of the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d idea was more appropriate for him instead of Makate.The question of who was the inventor of the \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d idea became one of the greatest technology and intellectual property court battles in South Africa.This battle of giving credit where it\u2019s due was not new. Many of those who are from previously disadvantaged communities have been victims of the same issue. Instead of being acknowledged for their inventions they are deliberately forgotten by technology history books. Makate understood this very well and he wanted to change the course of history not only for him but for generations to come.\u00a0Makate fought hard for young innovators. As crazy as it may sound, he has shown that it is possible for a township boy to be registered in technology history books as an inventor of a key technology.\u00a0He did not only fight for young innovators from township communities he has shown us that technology ideas matter. Many pundits, arm chair experts and those who thought they know everything have been proven wrong. Many argued that technology ideas mean nothing, however\u00a0 Makate has shown us that technology ideas do matter. He consulted with those in the know in Silicon Valley legal minds and institutions, where ideas truly matter. In Silicon Valley, it is understood that great innovations are born twice. Firstly as ideas and designs, secondly as products that are impacting the world.He forced the South African legal system to think about valuing technology ideas and he has succeeded in doing so. The battle of acknowledging ideas from township is not over. During my online interaction with Makate at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, he indicated to me that he would spend some of his \u201cPlease Call Me\u201d earnings towards funding young people from previously disadvantaged communities. I do hope that this moment will inspire many to support the idea of funding the unfunded, those inventors who are never acknowledged. His court cases will no doubt serve as a lesson in the legal fraternity\u00a0 by setting a precedent. His book when he finally writes one will serve as an important piece of technology history that may inspire inventors from township communities to fight for their ideas and, more importantly, implement them.Wesley Diphoko is a Technology Analyst and Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company (South Africa) magazine.Wesley Diphoko is a Technologist Analyst and Editor-In-Chief of FastCompany (SA) magazine.*** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or\u00a0IOL.BUSINESS REPORT<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":265151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-265227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-builder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265227"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265229,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265227\/revisions\/265229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}