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Private companies are not above the law: Activist

todaySeptember 9, 2024 63

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Veteran health activist, Mark Heywood, says it’s time for private companies to be held accountable for their actions, just like government was held responsible for the Life Esidimeni tragedy.

Heywood’s remarks come as this month marks six years since the largest recorded listeriosis outbreak in history rocked South Africa, leaving over 200 people dead.

To date the company at the eye of the storm, Tiger Brands, has evaded any form of responsibility for the outbreak.

The matter is back in the headlines after the legal team made up of Richard Spoor Incorporated Attorneys and LHL Attorneys, which represent the more than 1 000 victims, announced that they have uncovered new evidence, which will further link the largest food producer in South Africa to this tragedy.

Between 2016 and 2018, 218 people lost their lives from the outbreak, which was transmitted mostly via contaminated polony, while 1 065 others became sick after eating foods that the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, traced back to Tiger Brand’s Polokwane facility.
Earlier today, the legal teams along with the one of the survivors, Montlha Ngobeni, launched a campaign under the hashtag #TigerBrandsMustPay.
Speaking to the media, Ngobeni detailed how she was infected with listeriosis while she was pregnant and didn’t know until her daughter Theto, who is now six years old, was born.
Ngobeni says her little girl was born with hydrocephalus and to date she has had six operations after doctors told her that they would have to insert a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt into her brain, as listeriosis would result in brain damage.

Ventriculoperitoneal shunting Information | Mount Sinai – New York

Ngobeni could not hold back her emotions as she detailed how her life has been affected.

The young mother shared how her 6-year-old’s confidence has been affected as she is unable to progress like her peers. She also doesn’t have control of her bladder and faecal incontinence.
Spoor describes the consequences of listeriosis as devastating, saying the infection also resulted in over 200 stillborn babies.

Written by: Nokwazi Qumbisa

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