Enterprise polony victims receives compensation 8 years later

Food giant, Tiger Brands, has announced that it has reached an agreement for advance payments to be made to the first group of people who fell victim to the listeriosis outbreak 8 years ago.

The outbreak, which was allegedly linked to processed meats, reportedly claimed the lives of more than 200 people and infected more than 1,000 people in 2017 and 2018.

At the time, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) identified the Tiger Brands’ Enterprise Foods factory in Polokwane as the source of the outbreak. The contaminated meats were two brands of polony manufactured by Tiger Brands of Enterprise Foods and Rainbow Chicken Limited. The outbreak was caused by the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes.

These compensation payments follow talks in October of 2024, between Tiger Brands and the victims’ attorneys (Richard Spoor Inc and LHL Attorneys) to agree on relief for qualifying individuals who have urgent medical needs, even though liability has not yet been determined.

The parties are engaged in discussions to extend the relief to other qualifying claimants who are in a similar position. To protect the privacy of the individuals, the company says no details of the payments will be made public.

“This is an important inroad and a first step in the parties’ efforts towards justice for the victims of the listeriosis outbreak. The interim advance payments will go some way towards relieving the acute needs of the recipients.” said Richard Spoor, Founding Director of Richard Spoor Inc.

In a statement, Tjaart Kruger, Chief Executive Officer of Tiger Brands said that even though liability has not yet been determined Tiger Brands has no legal obligation to provide interim relief at this stage in the class action.

“Where the company has been provided with required information and documentation to enable decision-making in the process, we will act swiftly. Today’s announcement represents an important milestone,” said Kruger

The NICD has also agreed to cooperate with the parties and will be making their records available as soon as possible to assist the parties in moving the matter forward

The class action, which is being managed in two stages is still in the first stage during which liability is to be determined by the Court. Only if Tiger Brands is found to be liable will the issue of causation arise, in the second stage of the class action, as well as an assessment of compensation payable to qualifying claimants for damages suffered.