Monthla Ngobeni's family had to sell their suburban home in Polokwane to pay about R700,000 for surgery and medical bills after she contracted listeriosis while pregnant.
The infection resulted in her youngest daughter being born with several defects, one of which is an inability to control her bowels.
The disease was contracted during the devastating 2017-2018 listeriosis outbreak caused by contaminated processed meat, mainly polony and Vienna sausages, produced at a Tiger Brands facility in Polokwane.
Ngobeni also had to downgrade schools for her two other children. And she must pack two spare sets of uniforms for her seven-year-old daughter Theto, who contracted listeriosis in her mother's womb.
While Tiger Brands’ liability for the listeriosis outbreak has yet to be determined in court, the company this week announced it had made an offer to settle some claims. Ngobeni's lawyers will meet the firm's legal representatives on Tuesday for talks.
The offer was made to claimants who were among the worst affected after contracting the disease, or whose mothers contracted what is called genotype L1-SL6-ST6-CT4148 of Listeria monocytogenes (ST6).
Others who received the offer were those whose breadwinners, on whom they were legally dependent, died of listeriosis and those whose legal dependents, who were in their care, contracted listeriosis caused by the genotype.
Ngobeni needed hip replacement surgery while Theto has had six surgeries to treat infections in her brain.
“Our lives have drastically changed. I also had to let go of our helper because I could no longer afford to pay her,” said Ngobeni, who must now do most of the household chores.
“Theto's laundry has to be done every day even when it's cold or raining as it can't be stored with other laundry,” Ngobeni said.
She said the metal hip replacement implants made her life difficult, especially during winter when she experienced unbearable pain.
“The struggle now is very bad as I get colder than any other normal person,” Ngobeni said.
She said they were forced to downgrade their lives while struggling to keep up with rising medical bills.
Her 13-year-old daughter now has the onerous task of checking up on her younger sibling to ensure she changes her uniform after soiling herself.
“This has taken a toll on my other daughter. Every time she has a break, she has to check Theto and ensure that she changes her uniform as I pack two additional sets of uniform for her,” said Ngobeni.
She said that irrespective of any support she gets, life would not return to how it was before contracting listeriosis.
Tiger Brands said it's offer 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”.
The company said no details of the offer or payments would be made public, to protect the privacy of individuals participating in the settlement offer.
Tiger Brands CEO Tjaart Kruger said the company'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”.
“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.”
Alex Spoor, MD of Richard Spoor Attorneys, the court-certified class action representatives for victims of the listeriosis outbreak, said Tiger Brands' offer was a milestone.
“Tiger Brands has started taking account for the harm caused. What this means is that it's the effective admission of liability based on incontrovertible evidence that shows that they produced contaminated goods over a very extended period of time.”
He said the settlement focused on a particular category of claimants and he believed it needed to be broadened.
“We do believe that Tiger Brands needs to come to the table on it and present a broader settlement to a whole class group; that's what good corporate citizenship should be.”
Spoor said they would engage with claimant representatives and Tiger Brands to fully understand the offer.
“There are things that are not fully resolved in this offer of settlement to this group of persons and that includes how you quantify damages and how class members are categorised,” Spoor said.
He said they anticipated lengthy discussions with the group of clients.
“We call on Tiger Brands to broaden the settlement, admit that they are liable for an outbreak ... to start resolving each and every case of individual class members,” Spoor said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.