Please Call Me back in court over 40% claim
On Techpoint Digest, we talk about the Please Call Me case returning to the High Court, the early days of BookClinic's founder, and Somalia confirms hack after a week of silence.
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Namaste,<br />
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Victoria from Techpoint here,<br />
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Here’s what I’ve got for you today:<br />
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Please Call Me case returns to High Court<br />
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Inside the early hustle of BookClinic’s founder<br />
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Somalia confirms hack after a week of silence<br />
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Please Call Me case returns to SA High Court<br />
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Gavel<br />
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It turns out the “Please Call Me” saga isn’t over. Just weeks after Vodacom and Nkosana Kenneth Makate announced they had finally reached a settlement, another fight has erupted. This time, over who gets a slice of Makate’s payout. His former legal funder, Black Rock Mining, is heading back to the Johannesburg High Court, claiming it’s entitled to 40% of the settlement.<br />
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Per the Sunday Times, Black Rock has lodged urgent court papers to block Vodacom from paying Makate while it tries to secure its share. The hearing is set for tomorrow, Tuesday, November 18. This issue had already been to arbitration, where Black Rock’s claim was dismissed, but the company is refusing to let it go.<br />
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Black Rock says it represents investors who backed Makate’s legal fight years ago through a vehicle called Raining Men Trade. Under a 2011 agreement, each investor was supposed to get 4–5% of the final payout if Makate won, and they’d carry the full loss if the case failed. The company claims Stemela & Lubbe Attorneys, Makate’s current legal team, won’t pay them a cent from the settlement.<br />
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The dispute between Makate and Raining Men goes way back. Schoeman, the man who rallied the funding, has long accused Stemela & Lubbe of trying to cut investors out by claiming they weren’t paying Makate’s bills. The law firm rejected this, and courts previously blocked Raining Men from joining Makate’s litigation after it failed to settle its own cost orders.<br />
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Makate, however, isn’t worried. He told the Sunday Times he’s glad the matter is returning to court because he believes Black Rock has “no case.” He insists the funder withdrew from the fight in 2024 and says meeting Raining Men’s directors was one ...
