The #VodacomShutdown movement is expected to protest outside the mobile giant’s headquarters on Thursday. Consumers are unhappy over Vodacom’s handling of the “Please Call Me” matter.
Activists from the Vodacom Shutdown Movement are demanding the mobile operator pay former employee Nkosana Makate for his invention.
Angry consumers have taken to social media to express their plans not to renew their cellphone contracts with Vodacom.
Vodacom has been at loggerheads with former employee Makate over compensation for his “Please Call Me” invention. South Africans are now rallying behind Makate over his continuing legal battle with the cell phone giant.
Activists belonging to the Vodacom Shutdown Movement have given the mobile operator an ultimatum: Pay Maketa by the 31st of January or suffer the consequences.
Vodacom has until Thursday 10am to compensate Makate
Dobek Poter, Analyst from Africa Analysis, says that it is ethical for Vodacom to pay.
“Vodacom should pay. It is the ethical proper thing to do. However, it is the matter of quantum; how much they should pay and Vodacom feels that they are going to pay roughly R50 million and apparently Mr Makate feels that he is owed more.”
The mobile operator is believed to have made billions from Makate’s Please Call Me innovation, but it’s alleged that an MTN contractor is the original “Please Call Me” innovator and not Makate. This is believed to be the point of contention over Makate’s compensation.
Vodacom has received backlash from angry South Africans after it served Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi with a cease-and-desist order. The order, intended to gag Lesufi from speaking out against them, backfired when the MEC in his personal capacity, took to social media.
Vodacom has declined to comment.
Bring it on @Vodacom ! I am NOT easily intimidated. You can’t bully me or silence my support to the weak and vulnerable. This is a democratic country and I have the right to express my views without fear. The apartheid regime detained me without trial. I am not scared! pic.twitter.com/E62GnxFiJ8
— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) January 30, 2019
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