SOUTH AFRICA – Tiger Brands, the leading food manufacturer in South Africa, has been urged to accept liability for the world’s largest listeriosis outbreak in 2017/18 and compensate the victims that still suffer six years after the fact.
Law firm RSI Attorneys has tabled new evidence that links Tiger Brands to the listeriosis outbreak South Africa experienced in the calendar year.
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 environmental origin – had no more than four allelic, or genetic, differences. This further linked the infections to the Polokwane facility with certainty.
RSI says Tiger Brands is “using every legal loophole available” to delay compensating the surviving victims. It added that Tiger Brands has still not acted despite having prior evidence and new evidence as at the end of January.
They include children who were infected in utero and are now experiencing serious health complications and developmental delays. RSI and LHL Attorneys are representing more than 1000 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.
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 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 despite having undeniable evidence that it was the only source of the ST6 listeria strain.
RSI senior attorney Thamsanqa Malusi explains Tiger Brands’ insurers Stalker Hutchison Admiral and QBE Insurance Group have played a key role in the negotiations in the matter, with the litigation being handled by the insurers and not Tiger Brands directly.
“Insurance companies often have vested interests in making sure that whatever money is earmarked for settlement gains as much interest as possible before that money is paid out to victims,” Malusi adds.
RSI founding director Richard Spoor estimates the compensation to be paid out to victims to be between R1.5-billion and R2.5-billion (US$84m – US$140m).
