By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Law firms Richard Spoor Inc (RSI) Attorneys and LHL Attorneys have embarked on a campaign calling on Tiger Brands to compensate victims of the Listeriosis outbreak.
In a media briefing hosted on September 9, the attorneys unpacked additional evidence it says links Tiger Brands to the listeriosis outbreak South Africa experienced in 2017/18.
As South Africa commemorates the sixth anniversary of the listeriosis outbreak, RSI and LHL Attorneys are launching a campaign calling on Tiger Brands to compensate those whose lives were affected after they or their loved ones ate infected products.
The law firms are representing more than 1 000 claimants in the matter.
At the time of the outbreak in 2017 and 2018, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed that traces of the ST6 genetic variant of listeria was found at Tiger Brands subsidiary Enterprise Foods’ meat processing facility, in Polokwane. The facility has since been sold.
The outbreak resulted in more than 1 000 confirmed cases of listeriosis, of which 218 were fatal between 2017 and 2018.
Of the confirmed cases, 465 were associated with pregnancy.
Listeriosis is an infectious disease of the blood or the brain caused by listeria bacteria. In generally healthy persons, the symptoms can be limited to limited nausea, vomiting, headaches, fevers. However, invasive listeriosis can result in serious health complications, including sepsis, meningitis or encephalitis, which can cause lifelong harm.
The case was brought as a class action in March 2018, which involves a certification phase and a merits and damages phase. While Tiger Brands agreed to certification in 2018, RSI says the group is delaying settlement of the case.
RSI says Tiger Brands is “using every legal loophole available” to delay compensating the surviving victims, including children who were infected in utero and are now experiencing serious health complications and developmental delays.
The additional evidence came to light through an investigation by the NICD using core genome multilocus sequence typing, which confirmed that 382 ST6 listeria isolates – of human, product and enviromental origin – had no more than four allelic, or genetic, differences. This further links the infections to the Polokwane facility with certainty.
The law firms are categorising the cases into four different classes based on the type of harm they suffered, including individuals that contracted listerioris and suffered harm, individuals who contracted listeriosis in utero, individuals who were dependent on another person who died from listeriosis and individuals who are or were supporting another person who contracted listeriosis.