Hearts of stone go soft in fiery Sea Point row over feeding the homeless during lockdown

One of the administrators of the Atlantic Seaboard Action Group Facebook page where “Platinum Mile” resident Peter Wagenaar’s private information was posted before his car was torched this week said he regrets comments he made condoning the act.

Gary Trappler, a Greenpoint resident and litigation attorney, described his comments in reaction to the attack as insensitive, facetious, and not in good taste.

In response to a Facebook post by Sea Point resident Shelley Finch, Trappler commented: “Good Job! Next time Peter Wagenaar should obey the lockdown regulations as well as Coct [City of Cape Town] official policy and not give money or food to street people. I believe gangsters were protecting their turf as they want to feed their own drug runners and objected to Wagenaar’s interference. Crime doesn’t pay.”

This was one of several posts he made.

On Friday he told TimesLIVE that his comments were “out of character” and that he condemned the attack as a despicable act of vigilantism — even offering a R5,000 reward for anyone with information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.

“That was a little bit of a thoughtless throwaway comment; I hadn’t thought it through. It was a knee-jerk, thoughtless response. If I had the opportunity, I would retract that. I’ve tried to retract it, I posted ... setting my position, so that was a retraction,” he said.

“It was a facetious comment, it wasn’t in good taste, it wasn’t sensitive,” said Trappler.

Police are investigating a case of malicious damage to property after Wagenaar’s car was set on fire in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Pictures of Wagenaar’s car, his personal address, and his ID number had been placed on the Facebook page by one of the page’s administrators, Paul Jacobson.

Some of the group’s 2,600 members were angry that Wagenaar was feeding homeless people in front of his home in Mouille Point, an act they claim was irresponsible and life threatening to the homeless.

On Wednesday, Wagenaar stood in the predawn darkness with his wife as they watched the car burn.

Two hours later, they were back preparing breakfast for street people residing in one of Cape Town’s most prized residential areas.

For Wagenaar there is no doubt that the attack was linked to him handing out food to street people.

“It’s quite clear the attack had to do with this. We’ve not rubbed anyone up to that significance in life. There’s no doubt about it,” he said.

“The guys have made it quite clear from day one and they’ve riled up the ratepayers association and the ward councillor and it’s escalated to the council level and then they’ve got the head of law enforcement to come and see me and get me to kick the can up the road and go and feed them around the corner. I said, why should I do that?” said Wagenaar.

He and his wife were not deterred by the attack, which “cremated” their Mini Cooper and left them without private transport options.

On Friday afternoon the couple were frantically busy in their flat’s kitchen preparing the next batch of food for Mouille Point’s homeless residents.

“This is convenient for me. As you can see I’m here in a regular apartment kitchen, this is not an industrial kitchen. I’m doing 80 to 100 meals and it must be served warm to the guys, that’s my philosophy,” he said.

The couple decided that they needed to start handing out food to street people two days before the lockdown in March when they realised that the bins from which people were scavenging for sustenance would soon have nothing in them.

But, this is the “Platinum Mile” and some residents view the presence of homeless people in a different light.

Jacobson accused him of “causing the premature deaths of many street people” by giving them food.

Jacobson also posted Wagenaar's address and ID number, as well as photographs of his car, on Facebook and in another post he defended this move, saying: “If there was a situation that deserved name and shame it was this.

“[Wagenaar's] actions go against all the directives of responsible giving and also encourages others to breach isolation and lockdown. We have a real problem with this idiot.”

In February, a member of the group was arrested for allegedly slashing his neighbour's tyres, according to police sources. A case of malicious damage to property was later provisionally struck off the roll.

Jacobson said he believed the arson attack was the result of a gang turf war.

“What we do know is it looks like a gang-related issue, at 3 o'clock in the morning a motorbike drove up, threw a bomb in there and left,” said Jacobson.

While Wagenaar and his wife handed out food on Beach Road next to the torched car some people walking past took time to write messages of thanks and support and to stick multi-coloured hearts on the car’s charred remains.

A young man stopped his car and got out to stick a placard on the car reading, “Thank you Peter Wagenaar”, and another read, “We appreciate your good heart”.

“It’s really just a handful of people that have got some friends and a bit of influence, stroke money, stroke power, stroke knowing people in political spheres trying to step things up, getting law enforcement to move us off this little block,” he said.

He hoped that the incident could become a turning point and could lead to reconciliation with those who were opposed to what he was doing.

“We watched the car go down. It’s very sad that someone goes down to this level. It’s easy to burn down a car, but to work on a heart of stone it’s a little more difficult, it takes a lifetime in some cases,” said Wagenaar.

“It’s just because this is the Platinum Mile over here,” he said.