It is interesting that while South African food hygiene standards are now some of the worst on the planet – thanks to the world’s worst outbreak of listeriosis – we are moving with the times in the legal sphere.
After 180 people died from listeriosis, victims and their families are preparing a class action suit against Tiger Brands. The man leading the fight is Richard Spoor, the attorney who has previously led successful class action suits against mining corporations for damages to the health of workers through deadly ailments like asbestosis.
Spoor says he and his associates will be taking on the action on a contingency basis and will claim back their costs from Tiger Brands, if successful.
He is confident he has a strong case and has enlisted a US food safety firm to provide the hard evidence.
The case shows that South Africans, for so long abused by big business – especially when it came to issues of public health and safety – have now realised the law is the muscle and the voice they never knew they had.
The class action suit is a serious warning to those companies ignoring the law and playing fast and loose with our rights as citizens.
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