Will Tiger Brands be held accountable for the deadly 2017 listeriosis outbreak?
A listeriosis outbreak that killed 218 people was traced to Tiger Brands' Polokwane facility.
Picture: Facebook/TigerBrandsFMCG
Ray White speaks to Richard Spoor, human rights attorney.
Listen to the interview in the audio player below.
Processed meat produced at an Enterprise factory in Polokwane was identified as the source of a listeriosis outbreak in 2017.
218 people died and more than a thousand more became ill, in what has been described as the world's worst ever listeriosis outbreak.
Monthla Ngobeni is the lead claimant in the class action lawsuit against Tiger Brands. Her daughter was born with hydrocephalus (a build-up of water on the brain) after contracting listeriosis while in the womb. #CarteBlanche pic.twitter.com/YMpJJJD2ai
— Carte Blanche (@carteblanchetv) September 8, 2024
Lawyers representing more than a thousand victims say they have evidence linking South Africa's biggest food producer, Tiger Brands to the tragedy.
Lawyers representing victims first filed a class action lawsuit against Tiger Brands in March 2028.
But over the last six years, many efforts to get the company to admit liability and to strike an agreement with victims has not happened.
Speaking to Ray White on The Money Show, human rights lawyer Richard Spoor says the laboratory tested samples links Tiger Brand's Polokwane factory to many of the cases.
BIG NEWS: The #Listeriosis class action against Tiger Brands has been announced. pic.twitter.com/pwD4v0q56a
— Wendy Knowler (@wendyknowler) March 10, 2018
"...But Tiger appears to us to have adopted a very passive attitude. They don't seem willing to put the kind of pressure on the insurer to settle this matter as we think they ought to." - Richard Spoor, human rights lawyer
"I personally don't think that this matter will ever go to trial, because there is no defence, Sooner or later they're going to have to concede liability." - Richard Spoor, human rights lawyer
"...They could drag this matter out we think for at least another year before we can have a ruling on liability." - Richard Spoor, human rights lawyer
Scroll to the top of the article to listen to the full interview.