The taxpayer will have to foot a damages bill of more than R120m to an East London firm of architects after 16 years of extraordinary tender and legal blunders by the Eastern Cape government.

The Constitutional Court – the final destination of a disastrous decade-long legal battle – has ruled in favour of Ikamva Architects, which must now be paid at least R120m in damages and interest after the government fouled up a 2003 tender...