By Nomali Cele
What You Can Learn from The Please Call Me Vodacom Case
After a nearly 15-year-long battle, Nkosana Kenneth Makate won his claim against telecommunications giant Vodacom. But he did so not without exhausting all the legal arenas in the country first. Makate’s victory was handed down by the highest court in the land, the Constitutional Court, last month. The case had previously appeared before two other courts: The South Gauteng High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeals.
The idea that Makate coined in 2000 effectively changed how telecommunications benefit users in South Africa: with “Please Call Me” users could, without cost, send requests to other cellphone users, asking to be phoned back. Simple. Effective. But Vodacom wouldn’t give Makate credit or compensation for his brilliance even though at the beginning they had agreed to test the idea and to pay Makate should it prove viable. Seeing as practically every cell phone user in South Africa has sent a “please call me” at one point, we’d say the idea was viable.
Now that Makate has won, here’s what you can learn from the case and how to avoid the same mistakes.
Keep a record of correspondence
Email has become one of the most important communication tools of the past more than 15 years. It’s handy for keeping track of dates and past interactions. Pitch your ideas to potential investors on emails so that you always have a record.
If you are let down by someone who makes a promise and then ‘conveniently’ forgets to honour it, or worse, steals your idea and punts it as their own, with email, you have a good record of a timeline. Using email also allows you to cash in on any agreements that the other part might be trying to back out of. While signing a contract before beginning any work is important, you shouldn’t suffer for taking a business contact’s word on important issues such as fees payable, timelines of delivery and so on.
An eyewitness doesn’t hurt
For meetings in real life, try to bring along an impartial party (such as your business mentor) to bear witness to the discussion. An eyewitness will help eliminate she said, he said, they said back and forth type of scenario should anything go wrong with the deal.
Make it official
The best way to protect your ideas and creative output (intellectual property) is by getting them registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CICP), which provides copyright, patents and trademarks, all the different ways of giving you ownership of your idea, design or creation.
Protect your ideas today.
Real. Familiar. Memorable. Kaya 959 brings you the music you know and love from our playlist. Uninterrupted. Thursdays 20h00 to 21h00
close
He has held it down in the world of mid-morning radio with the best music, riveting topics, brilliant mixes and interesting guests. Every weekday, The Best T proves why he is the BEST by connecting to you like only your bro or favourite uncle could. He lets his listeners dictate the songs they want to hear in the ever-popular Top 10 at 10, and his Three Teaspoons never run out. Catch The Best T in the City Mondays to Fridays from 09h00 to 12h00.
close
Feel good about feeling good! That's exactly what The Feel-Good show is about. An escape from the negativity that surrounds us, indulging you in good feels. Pass it on to one and all. Spread the good feeling around Gauteng with Andy Maqondwana.
close
The world of business is simplified for you by Kaya Biz with Gugulethu Mfuphi. This fast-paced award-winning business show talks to the corporate giants as well as up and coming entrepreneurs about their wins and challenges. Gugulethu invites guests to offer their analyses of markets and economies, and also delves into issues of personal financial wellness. Kaya Biz airs Mondays to Thursdays 18h00 to 19h00.
close
Point of View with Phemelo Motene delves into the day’s current affairs, touches on real issues that affect people’s daily lives and shares expert advice on questions posed by the audience. Mondays to Thursdays 20:00 to 22:00.
close
THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT FORMS PART OF KAYA 959’S TERMS OF USE POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY TERM OF THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT, YOU MUST CEASE YOUR ACCESS OF THIS WEBSITE IMMEDIATELY.
POPIA Act – To promote the protection of personal information processed by public and private bodies; to introduce certain conditions so as to establish minimum requirements for the processing of personal information; to provide for the establishment of an Information Regulator to exercise certain powers and to perform certain duties and functions in terms of this Act and the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000; to provide for the issuing of codes of conduct; to provide for the rights of persons regarding unsolicited electronic communications and automated decision making; to regulate the flow of personal information across the borders of the Republic; and to provide for matters connected therewith.
RECOGNISING THAT—
AND BEARING IN MIND THAT—
AND IN ORDER TO—
1.1.“Personal Information” means information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person and where it is applicable, identifiable, existing juristic person, including all information as defined in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.
1.2 Parliament assented to POPIA on 19 November 2013. The commencement date of section 1, Part A of Chapter 5, section 112 and section 113 was 11 April 2014. The commencement date of the other sections was 1 July 2020 (with the exception of section 110 and 114(4). The President of South Africa has proclaimed the POPI commencement date to be 1 July 2020.
1.3. “Processing” means the creation, generation, communication, storage, destruction of personal information as more fully defined in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.
1.4. “You” or the “user” means any person who accesses and browses this website for any purpose.
1.4. “Website” means the website of the KAYA 959 at URL www.kaya959.co.za or such other URL as KAYA 959 may choose from time to time.
2.1. KAYA 959 respects your privacy. This privacy policy statement sets out KAYA 959’s information gathering and dissemination practices in respect of the Website.
2.2. This Privacy Policy governs the processing of personal information provided to KAYA 959 through your use of the Website.
2.3. Please note that, due to legal and other developments, KAYA 959 may amend these terms and conditions from time to time.
3.1. By providing your personal information to KAYA 959 you acknowledge that it has been collected directly from you and consent to its processing by KAYA 959.
3.2. Where you submit Personal Information (such as name, address, telephone number and email address) via the website (e.g. through completing any online form) the following principles are observed in the processing of that information:
3.2.1. KAYA 959 will only collect personal information for a purpose consistent with the purpose for which it is required. The specific purpose for which information is
collected will be apparent from the context in which it is requested.
3.2.2. KAYA 959 will only process personal information in a manner that is adequate, relevant and not excessive in the context of the purpose for which it is processed.
3.2.3. Personal information will only be processed for a purpose compatible with that for which it was collected, unless you have agreed to an alternative purpose in writing or KAYA 959 is permitted in terms of national legislation of general application dealing primarily with the protection of personal information.
3.2.4. KAYA 959 will keep records of all personal Information collected and the specific purpose for which it was collected for a period of 1 (one) year from the date on which it was last used.
3.2.5. KAYA 959 will not disclose any personal information relating to you to any third party unless your prior written agreement is obtained or KAYA 959 is required to do so by law.
3.2.6. If personal information is released with your consent KAYA 959 will retain a record of the information released, the third party to which it was released, the reason for the release and the date of release, for a period of 1 (one) year from the date on which it was last used.
3.2.7. KAYA 959 will destroy or delete any personal information that is no longer needed by KAYA 959 for the purpose it was initially collected, or subsequently processed.
3.3. Note that, as permitted by the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, KAYA 959 may use personal information collected to compile profiles for statistical purposes. No information contained in the profiles or statistics will be able to be linked to any specific user.
4.1. KAYA 959 may use standard technology to collect information about the use of this website. This technology is not able to identify individual users but simply allows KAYA 959 to collect statistics.
4.2. KAYA 959 may utilise temporary or session cookies to keep track of users’ browsing habits. A cookie is a small file that is placed on your hard drive in order to keep a record of your interaction with this website and facilitate user convenience.
4.2.1. Cookies by themselves will not be used to identify users personally but may be used to compile identified statistics relating to use of services offered or to provide KAYA 959 with feedback on the performance of this website.
4.2.2. The following classes of information may be collected in respect of users who have enabled cookies:
4.2.2.1. The browser software used;
4.2.2.2. IP address;
4.2.2.3. Date and time of activities while visiting the website;
4.2.2.4. URLs of internal pages visited; and
4.2.2.5. referrers.
4.3. If you do not wish cookies to be employed to customize your interaction with this website it is possible to alter the manner in which your browser handles cookies. Please note that, if this is done, certain services on this website may not be available.
5.1. KAYA 959 takes reasonable measures to ensure the security and integrity of information submitted to or collected by this website, but cannot under any circumstances be held liable for any loss or other damage sustained by you as a result of unlawful access to or dissemination of any personal information by a third party.
6.1. KAYA 959 has no control over and accepts no responsibility for the privacy practices of any third party websites to which hyperlinks may have been provided and KAYA 959 strongly recommends that you review the privacy policy of any website you visit before using it further.
7.1. If you have any queries about this privacy policy please contact us by emailing [email protected]
