The Gauteng High Court has ordered the South African National Defence Force to pay legal costs after relocating Operation Prosper troops from Fort iKapa just days before a scheduled court hearing, raising fresh questions about military leadership and the use of taxpayer funds.

The court awarded costs on an attorney-and-client scale following the SANDF’s decision to move more than 140 soldiers from the facility and withdraw its opposition to the case brought by SA National Defence Union. The presiding judge reportedly expressed concern about the conditions soldiers had endured at the base.

The relocation came after two Democratic Alliance oversight inspections uncovered troops living in what soldiers described as an “icebox” – a leaking hangar with poor sanitation, food shortages and no reliable hot water. The inspections took place whilst approximately R823 million had been allocated to Operation Prosper, the mission to combat gang violence on the Cape Flats.

Troops have since been relocated to Ysterplaat Air Force Base, with repairs now underway at Fort iKapa.

The DA, which conducted the oversight visits, said the court outcome vindicated its findings after ANC members in Parliament dismissed the concerns as “fabricated” and “misinformation” during recent committee proceedings.

“If conditions were acceptable, why were soldiers urgently relocated to Ysterplaat just days before the court hearing?” the party asked in a statement released this week.

The defence force’s decision to fight the case, only to relocate the troops before the hearing, means South African taxpayers will now cover the legal costs incurred by both sides.

ALSO READ: DA raises alarm over squalid conditions at Fort Ikapa

The controversy adds to mounting scrutiny of the Department of Defence, which is already subject to investigations by the Special Investigating Unit and the Hawks into alleged fraud totalling up to R2,5 billion.

According to the DA, the Minister of Defence and her deputies accumulated a travel bill of roughly R14 million in seven months, whilst soldiers at Fort iKapa reportedly went without basic amenities.

Parliamentary oversight of Operation Prosper’s R823 million budget has been blocked, according to opposition members, despite repeated requests for transparency on how the funds were allocated and spent.

The ANC parliamentary chairperson has not yet responded to questions about why oversight findings that were initially dismissed have since been validated by the SANDF’s own actions in relocating troops and initiating repairs.

ALSO READ: Operation Prosper soldier to take SANDF, minister to court over conditions at Fort Ikapa