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.
During the 2017/2018 outbreak, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) verified that the meat processing factory owned by Tiger Brands subsidiary Enterprise Foods in Polokwane, had signs of the ST6 genetic variation of Listeria.
At the time over a thousand cases of Listeriosis were confirmed, 218 of those were fatal. Of the confirmed cases, 465 were pregnant women.
Associate Attorney at RSI, Zanele Malindi says many of the victims have been financially crippled by the ongoing medical costs to themselves or their dependents.
We actually had a few clients come to our offices recently to do some interviews and it was exclusively women who had lost their children. Either neonates or just born or had miscarried their children. Its really difficult and people are really suffering which is why I say sometimes justice delayed is justice denied. Of course theres physical consequences to Listeriosis. Children get cerebral palsy because of this, really bad developmental delays. So, there is a physical consequence to this.
