One of the 10 people who have filed a class action lawsuit against Enterprise Foods for the listeriosis outbreak, has said he is doing it on behalf of his mother whose health is still deteriorating. The applicant, who wants to remain anonymous, told HuffPost what a lively person his mother was before she fell ill with the potentially fatal disease.
"She was a spontaneous, generous, highly educated individual full of energy and life, a friend to all and an enemy to none... this is not the lady I see today ... My mother is a shell of the person she was before listeria," he said.
He says his family have always been "fanatics for polony and Viennas from Enterprise", not knowing that one day it would compromise the health of someone so dear to him.
"My mother was poisoned by a product she has been enjoying for decades, intentionally or not – she was poisoned by a trusted household brand consumed by tens of millions of people monthly," he said.
He feels Enterprise cut corners and did not put consumers first.
"The objective of any food-production giant should be to produce food – not to poison the food consumers."
I want justice for all; there are many, many people who have been affected who have no access to legal knowledge or expertise for a multitude of reasons.
He says it is time for the law to take its course.
"I want justice for all; there are many, many people who have been affected, who have no access to legal knowledge or expertise for a multitude of reasons.
"If the class action is the way to go forward to assure fairness and justice for all victims and survivors, then there is in my opinion no doubt that the class action is the best (and only) way forward."
He also highlights that listeriosis has affected all South Africans.
"Contrary to mass-media reports, it is not only the poorer end of society that enjoy their Enterprise polony, as much as I find it somewhat insulting to link a product to an ethnic population... as if white people do not eat the same products as everyone else."
His mother fell ill early this year, and the polony in her fridge tested positive for listeria. Her infection is one of at least 982 cases that have been confirmed.
Richard Spoor Inc. Attorneys filed the class action suit in the High Court in Johannesburg last month, seeking compensation for the damage caused by contaminated Enterprise products on behalf of victims of the deadly outbreak.