Johannesburg – A renewed dispute over the long running Please Call Me settlement has pushed the Johannesburg High Court to freeze 40 percent of inventor Nkosana Makate’s payout while a fresh claim is tested in December. The court directed that the contested amount, estimated at R280 million from a reported R700 million settlement with Vodacom, remain in the trust account of his attorneys Stemela and Lubbe until the hearing on 3 December 2025. Makate is able to access the remaining 60 percent.
The freeze follows an urgent application by British Virgin Islands based Black Rock Mining, which argues it is entitled to 40 percent of the settlement under what it says was a 2011 funding agreement designed to support Makate’s litigation. The Please Call Me service continues to be widely used in Eswatini, especially among residents who rely on free messages to request return calls during low airtime periods.
The urgent court bid was brought by former Black Rock director Errol Elsdon, who sought to prevent Vodacom from paying the settlement into any account other than the trust account of Makate’s attorneys. Black Rock claims Makate breached the agreement by concluding his settlement with Vodacom on 4 November 2025 without obtaining its written approval.
Makate disputes the claim and argues that the agreement was cancelled in 2015. His affidavit states that Black Rock never honoured its funding obligations and that the only money he received after an initial 2011 deposit was R7 853 in 2014, paid directly by the late businessman Christiaan Schoeman. He accuses the individuals involved of misrepresenting themselves and attempting to forge his signature on an agreement naming Raining Men Trade as the funder.
Elsdon argues that he, Schoeman and an associate, Tracey Roscher, raised R500 000 in 2011 and later R2.4 million to support Makate’s litigation. Makate counters that these payments were never made and says an arbitrator had previously found the trio to lack honesty. He also points to a past court order that barred Black Rock from interfering in his negotiations with Vodacom.
The court papers further claim that Black Rock, while nearing deregistration, sold part of its shares to Luxembourg based Simba Capital and that the proceeds were diverted to personal accounts rather than used to fund the Please Call Me case. Makate argues that attempts to revive the company only resumed in 2019 after Vodacom’s chief executive made a R47 million offer, which he says shows opportunism rather than long term support.
He maintains that the agreement was validly cancelled in 2015, noting that Schoeman himself acknowledged the cancellation, although Elsdon disputes this. He adds that any claim Black Rock may assert has prescribed.
Makate challenges the company to provide proof of any contribution to the litigation over the last 14 years, pointing to the massive expenses involved, including Vodacom’s R12 million bill for a single Constitutional Court hearing in November 2024, which he says were covered by his legal team and bank credit rather than outside funding.
The High Court’s December determination will decide whether Makate keeps the disputed R280 million or whether the British Virgin Islands based company succeeds in its claim.
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