Tawanda Karombo
Tiger Brands, which is expecting stronger headline earnings per share for half year to March 2025, will make settlement offers to claimants affected by an outbreak of listeriosis that emanated from a subsisdiary of the company in Polokwane between 2017 and 2018.
The company has been scrambling for a way to settle the issue. It said on Monday that the settlement offer it was undertaking “is a significant step towards resolution of the listeriosis” class action.
It confirmed that attorneys representing the company’s lead reinsurer, QBE Insurance Group, had presented the settlement offer to the claimants’ attorneys as part of a road-map to a possible overall resolution of the listeriosis class action.
More than 1 000 people fell ill due to the listeriosis outbreak that killed around 200 others. No details of the offer were revealed as the company cited confidentiality of those affected by the outbreak.
However, QBE Insurance Group has been mandated by Tiger Brands to make settlement offers to specific named persons “who suffered damage” as a result of the listeriosis outbreak.
Those covered by the offer by Tiger Brands include claimants who contracted or whose mothers contracted listeriosis, those whose legal breadwinners, on whom they were legally dependent, died of the listeriosis outbreak and claimants whose legal dependents were in their care, and who contracted listeriosis.
The settlement offer was made on 25 April 2025 and included an undertaking to pay the claimants’ proven or agreed compensatory damages.
It, however, was “subject to certain conditions and has been made without admission of liability and in full and final settlement of the claims of the claimants,” said Tiger Brands in a statement.
“Today’s announcement represents an important milestone and follows shortly on measures already taken in February 2025 to offer interim relief in the form of advance payments to identified claimants with urgent medical needs,” said Tjaart Kruger, Tiger Brands CEO.
“It also demonstrates our commitment to continue to work closely with our insurers and their appointed attorneys to explore a resolution of the entire class action.”
Tiger Brands’ attorneys and those of the claimants are managing the class action in two stages, with the case still at the first stage during which liability is to be determined by the courts.
If found to be liable for the listeriosis outbreak, “the issue of causation (will) arise, in the second stage of the class action, as well as an assessment of compensation payable to qualifying claimants for damages” suffered.
Meanwhile, Tiger Brands said Monday that it expected headline earnings per share for the half year to March 2025 to be between 15% and 25%, or between 121 cents and 202 cents higher than the 808 cents reported in the previous contrasting period.
Tiger Brands had also approached the National Institute for Communicable Diseases together with legal representatives of plaintiffs in the case to access the institute’s records related to the listeriosis outbreak.
However, legal representatives for the claimants interpreted this settlement offer as a pivotal admission from Tiger Brands regarding their responsibility for the outbreak.
Speaking to SABC TV on Monday afternoon, Alex Spoor of Richard Spoor Attorneys said the genetic evidence linking ill claimants to the Polokwane facility was “incontrovertible proof of Tiger Brands’ culpability”.
“This is the first time Tiger Brands has truly taken responsibility for this outbreak. We consider this offer to constitute an effective admission that they got people sick and are responsible for an outbreak that persisted for a very lengthy period of time,” Spoor said.
“We know this because the group of persons that Tiger Brands wants to settle all have detailed genetic sequencing that links claimant’s cases to Tiger Brands Polokwane facility and food produced from this facility. This evidence is incontrovertible proof of Tiger Brands culpability.
“Both our experts and Tiger Brands experts have seen this evidence and this is the basis on which the settlement has been made. This does not mean that Tiger Brands is not responsible to all persons who ate and consumed their products over the class period.
Spoor said these cases remained very strong and they intended to pursue liability until full and final settlement was achieved, indicating that the settlement process might take weeks or even months to fully resolve.
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