JSE-listed fast moving consumer goods producer Tiger Brands has reached an agreement with law firms Richard Spoor Incorporated (RSI) and LHL Attorneys for advance payments to be made to some persons seeking interim assistance to cover urgent medical needs, while a class action lawsuit on the 2017/18 listeriosis outbreak continues.

Tiger Brands reported in October last year that it was engaging with the plaintiff’s attorneys to agree on relief for qualifying individuals who have urgent medical needs, regardless of the extent of the company’s liability in the matter not having been determined by the court.

The company says the privacy of individuals receiving payments will be protected, hence no details of payments will be made public.

“This is an important inroad and 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,” says RSI director Richard Spoor.

“The legal process has proved long and arduous. Even though liability has not yet been determined and Tiger Brands has no legal obligation to provide interim relief at this stage in the class action, the interim advance payment to select claimants with urgent needs recognises the debilitating circumstances in which they find themselves.

“Where the company has been provided with required information and documentation to enable decision-making in the process, we will act swiftly,” adds Tiger Brands CEO Tjaart Kruger.

Engagement between the parties’ legal representatives will continue in respect of the assessment of a number of claimants who may qualify for assistance, within the confines of the current process.

Additionally, endeavours are ongoing to explore a broader resolution of the class action in total, to which Tiger Brands will make further announcements.

“We are particularly pleased to report that progress has been made in our longstanding efforts to gain access to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases of South Africa (NICD) records relating to their investigation of the listeriosis outbreak.

“The NICD has agreed to cooperate with us and will be making their records available to the parties as soon as possible. We believe that access to the NICD’s records will greatly assist the parties in moving the matter forward,” Kruger notes.  

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,” Tiger Brands confirms.

RSI last year launched a campaign to get Tiger Brands to accept liability for what had been the world’s largest listeriosis outbreak, particularly since it has been six years since the outbreak, which claimed the lives of 218 people and infected 465 pregnant mothers, some of whose children suffer from severe developmental conditions.

The NICD at the time confirmed that traces of the ST6 genetic variant of listeria was found at Tiger Brands’ subsidiary Enterprise Foods’ meat processing facility in Polokwane, which the company has subsequently sold.  

The law firms are representing more than 1 000 claimants in the class action.

RSI has claimed that Tiger Brands, through its insurance partners, have been using “every legal loophole available” to delay compensating the surviving victims, despite mounting evidence that Tiger Brands’ facility was the sole source of the outbreak.

At the time, Spoor estimated the compensation to be paid out to victims to be between R1.5-billion and R2.5-billion.

At the time, Tiger Brands said it remained committed to ensuring a resolution in the interest of all parties.

The court is yet to allocate a trial date once all necessary pre-trial procedures have been attended to.