JOHANNESBURG, April 26 (Reuters) - South Africa'sConstitutional Court on Tuesday ordered mobile operator Vodacom to compensate the inventor of a free messaging systemused by the company, local news services Fin24 and EWN said.
Online news service Fin24 said that after years oflitigation, the highest court in South Africa ordered Vodacom, aunit of Britain's Vodafone, to negotiate a payout amountwith Nkosana Makate for inventing the "Please Call Me" service.
Vodacom's spokesman Byron Kennedy told Fin24 that the firmwas studying the court's ruling. (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; Editing by James Macharia)