The conditions at Fort iKapa, as shared by the SANDU.
Image: Supplied
The Joint Standing Committee on Defence has said that conditions at Fort iKapa, where 146 soldiers for Operation Prosper are being accommodated, are not inhumane.
Last week, the SA National Defence Union (SANDU) demanded urgent action from the Department of Defence (DOD), describing inhumane and unsafe conditions, including a leaking hangar with no warm water for showers and unsanitary toilets.
The soldiers have been deployed to the Western Cape to assist with gang violence.
This, as R823 million has been allocated nationally for the SANDF to support the SAPS with priority internal tasks, focusing on a government-wide approach to stabilise crime.
Photographs were recently shared by the SANDU showing the conditions the soldiers are living in.
In reaction, Phiroane Phala, co-chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence, together with two members of the committee, visited Fort iKapa Military Base in Acacia Park, Cape Town.
They said they found the living conditions at the base to be adequate.
Via a parliamentary statement, the committee said Phala noted that the conditions observed during the visit were contrary to media reports alleging that the 146 soldiers deployed under Operation Prosper are being housed in inhumane conditions.
“The visit provided first-hand evidence that the media reports were fabricated to create a narrative that not only undermines the reputation of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), but also casts doubt on its capacity and capability,” Phala said.
The Committee further noted that the co-chairperson said the narrative appeared intended to undermine the morale of soldiers deployed to carry out the mandate entrusted to them by the President.
Phala added: “While we did not expect hotel-like accommodation, what we witnessed met the standards reasonably expected under the circumstances,” he said.
The alarm was raised following a letter drafted by lawyers of SANDU, seen by the Cape Argus, which stated that three toilets were allocated and there was no toilet paper and no warm water for showers.
The plight of the soldiers received the attention of Nicholas Gotsell DA NCOP Member on Security and Justice, who carried out an oversight visit to the base and said he found the soldiers having to sleep in barracks with leaking roofs.
Gotsell also took to Facebook, where he said the soldiers were being made to be untruthful.
"To officers staying at Fort iKapa, the ANC's Standing Committee on Defence says you were lying about the conditions you were living in since you arrived there in March. He has just issued a statement saying he was there yesterday and that he finds the living conditions adequate and that the media reports were fabricated."
The Cape Argus has reached out to the committee on Gotsell's statement.
In response to Phala, Gotsell and Chris Hattingh, DA spokesperson on Defence and Military Veterans, said management was fully aware of the conditions before the soldiers' arrival.
“During a parliamentary oversight visit on June 3, 2026, Members of Parliament were briefed that these shortcomings had already been identified during planning discussions in February 2026, before soldiers arrived on March 15. Yet almost three months later, no repair work had commenced," Hattingh said.