Deltamune (Pty) Ltd and Others v Tiger Brands Limited and Others

Tiger Brands Limited and its subsidiaries face a certified class action arising from a nationwide listeriosis outbreak between January 2017 and September 2018, allegedly caused by contaminated ready‑to‑eat meat products produced at Tiger Brands’ Polokwane facility. In defending that class action, Tiger Brands issued subpoenas duces tecum under s 35 of the Superior Courts Act and rule 38 of the Uniform Rules to various third parties, including meat suppliers, commercial pathology laboratories (Deltamune and Aspirata), and public health bodies (NHLS), seeking extensive documentation relating to Listeria testing and control. None of the subpoenaed parties were litigants in the class action. The recipients applied to set aside the subpoenas on grounds including irrelevance, overbreadth, abuse of process, fishing expedition, and confidentiality. The High Court upheld the subpoenas in amended form and ordered production to the Registrar, deferring decisions on relevance, access, and confidentiality. The third parties appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

All appeals were upheld. The High Court’s orders were set aside. In the Deltamune and Aspirata appeal, the subpoenas against the laboratories were set aside in full. In the Federated Meats appeal, the subpoenas were set aside except for a narrowly defined obligation to produce protocols relating to microbial testing and control for a specified period. In the NHLS appeal, the subpoena was set aside entirely. Tiger Brands was ordered to pay costs, including costs of two counsel, in the respective appeals.

The judgment is a leading South African authority on the limits of subpoenas duces tecum against third parties. It clarifies that a higher standard of relevance applies than in ordinary discovery, affirms protection of third parties from fishing expeditions, and stresses that courts must themselves determine relevance and disclosure rather than deferring such decisions. The case is particularly significant in the context of large‑scale class actions and complex litigation.