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Judgement Day for Makate and Vodacom in “Please Call Me” Battle

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Nkosana Makate

The Constitutional Court is expected to hand down a landmark judgement today in the long-running and high-profile legal battle between Nkosana Makate, the acknowledged inventor of the Please Call Me service, and South African telecommunications giant Vodacom.

Makate has been fighting for fair compensation since 2007, claiming that Vodacom unlawfully profited from the Please Call Me service, a revolutionary mobile feature that allows users without airtime to send a free request for someone to call them back.

In a case that has captured world attention, Makate argues that Vodacom owes him billions of rand for the idea he conceived in 2000, when he was a junior employee at the company. While Vodacom has acknowledged him as the originator of the service, the dispute has centred around the amount he is owed.

In 2016, the Constitutional Court ruled that Vodacom was bound by a verbal agreement to compensate Makate, ordering the company to enter negotiations. However, after years of back-and-forth and a R47 million offer from Vodacom, which Makate rejected as inadequate, the battle returned to court.

Today’s ruling is expected to address critical questions around the fairness of the compensation process, Vodacom’s compliance with the previous order, and the extent to which intellectual property is valued in South African labour and corporate law.

Legal analysts say the judgement could set a powerful precedent for employee-inventors and reshape how major corporations handle internal innovation and compensation.

Makate’s legal team is hoping the apex court will compel Vodacom to pay a significantly higher amount, potentially running into the billions. Vodacom, on the other hand, has warned of potential financial risks should the ruling go against it.

As the nation watches closely, today’s decision is set to define the future of innovation rights in South Africa and mark a turning point in one man’s 17-year struggle for justice.

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DIABETES CURE… OR THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR INSULIN DEPENDENCE?

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DIABETES CURE… OR THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR INSULIN DEPENDENCE?

Scientists in China and the United States have successfully used stem cells to create insulin-producing cells that restored the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar in some patients with Type 1 diabetes.

The experimental procedures, conducted by researchers in China and separately by Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the U.S., represent a significant leap beyond traditional disease management.

For over a century, diabetes has required patients to endure daily insulin injections and constant glucose monitoring.

These new cell-based therapies aim to rebuild the biological function that is lost in the disease.

According to details shared online by science commentator SciTech Girl, which have garnered significant attention from the medical community, the approach involves creating new islet cells from stem cells and transplanting them into patients.

In several individuals with Type 1 diabetes, whose pancreases no longer produce insulin, these transplanted cells have begun producing insulin again—eliminating the need for injected insulin.

“No pump. No syringe. Just living cells doing their job,” the report stated, summarising the dramatic outcome for some trial participants.

Medical experts caution that while the results are groundbreaking, they do not yet constitute a widespread, proven cure.

The trials remain small in scale, and the long-term durability and safety of the transplanted cells are still unknown.

 

 

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Russia Enforces Nationwide WhatsApp Ban

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Russian authorities have moved to block Meta-owned WhatsApp across the country, citing the company’s failure to meet domestic legal requirements.

Officials say Meta did not establish a local office, declined to cooperate with data-sharing demands, and failed to remove content deemed unlawful.

The government has also linked the messaging platform to cases of fraud and alleged extremist activities.

Following the shutdown, many users in Russia are migrating to alternative platforms such as Telegram, VK Messenger, Yandex Messenger, and the government-supported MAX application.

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Ex-President Edgar Lungu’s Son Stripped of Assets Deemed Proceeds of Crime

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Dalisto Lungu, the son of Zambia’s late former president Edgar Lungu, has been stripped of assets worth more than US$1.26 million after a ruling by the Economic and Financial Crimes Court.

The court found that the properties were obtained through illicit means and ordered their forfeiture to the state. The seized assets include 79 motor vehicles, over 20 pieces of land located in various parts of Zambia, as well as a fuel service station.

In its judgment, the EFCC stated that Lungu failed to provide credible evidence of a lawful income or business operations that could reasonably explain his accumulation of such wealth.

Lungu disputed the allegations, insisting that the properties were legally acquired. However, the court ruled that his explanation was insufficient to counter the state’s case, paving the way for the assets to be confiscated.

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