Victims of Listeriosis represented by their lawyers will be approaching the High Court in Johannesburg on Monday in a bid to certify their litigation as a class action against Tiger Brands.
Last week, lawyers representing Tiger Brands requested more time.
The company has already announced that it will not oppose the lawsuit. The outbreak caused 218 recorded deaths and left more than 1 000 people seriously ill.
One of the victims, Montlha Ngobeni says she hopes victims will be compensated.
“My only hope is that these lawsuits will go well; they will compensate us so that we can be able to take care of ourselves, especially me taking care of a hydrocephalus baby due to this. Hydrocephalus … it is chronic. If they want to do the right thing, yes, they won’t oppose this. We are just waiting for the class action to the be certified on Monday then we’ll take it from there.”
Tiger Brands Communications Director Nevashnee Naicker says they will continue to work closely with the claimants.
“From the onset, Tiger Brands committed to managing this process with honesty and integrity. Our company’s legal representatives have been working closely with the attorneys for the claimants. Not only are we not opposing the class action, we have been supporting to expedite the matter. We want to bring closure to all parties, particularly the victims as soon as possible.”
