Peter Wagenaar’s burnt-out Mini Cooper is still there, on Beach Road in Mouille Point, after it was set alight a week ago. It’s become something of a monument, Wagenaar tells Daily Maverick.

Wagenaar, a real estate agent, started feeding around 30 homeless people from his car during the lockdown. He is helped by his wife, Lesley, and another homeless man, Justin, “who’s been there since day one”.

When the number of homeless grew, he stopped using his car and began distributing the food from the corner of  Beach and Fritz Sonnenberg roads. 

Tensions emerged on certain community Facebook groups, with some residents accusing Wagenaar of attracting homeless people to the area by feeding them.  

Wagenaar’s personal information, including his residential address and car registration, was posted in one of the groups after Paul Jacobson, a local resident, claimed that by feeding the homeless, Wagenaar was “causing the premature death of many street people”.

Wagenaar’s car was subsequently petrol-bombed late one night. The attackers have not been found.

Meanwhile, Wagenaar has garnered even more support since his car was burnt last week Wednesday, 6 May. 

“The support we’ve gotten has been unbelievable. It’s been precious how the community has come together,” he said. 

Wagenaar wakes up at 4am every day to cook breakfast for the homeless people, with wife Lesley lending a hand.

The food is then served between 7am on the corner of Beach Road and Fritz Sonnenberg Road. At 4pm, Wagenaar provides an evening meal.

He feeds between 80 to 100 homeless people each day. 

A Backabuddy campaign was started to help the Good Samaritan buy a new car and to contribute to his feeding scheme. The campaign has so far raised about R6,000.

Wagenaar has in the meantime opened a case of malicious damage to property.

“The detective on the case is doing a fantastic job. I’ve spent a bit of time with him and he’s been extremely thorough and is following up on various leads,” said Wagenaar. 

So far, no arrests have been made.  “There are no new developments to report so far. The case is still under investigation,” said Western Cape police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana. 

Wagenaar said the detective working on the case had told him that CCTV footage shows two men on a motorbike arriving on the scene at 03:30 am on Wednesday 6 May.

“One drives off and turns the bike around, while the other guy breaks the window of the car and throws something flammable in there. He then jumps back onto the bike and they go off. You don’t see much more than that,” said Wagenaar.

Even in the face of setbacks, Wagenaar is determined to continue feeding the homeless. He is in possession of a permit to do so.

When his geyser burst this week making cooking difficult, he ordered 120 happy meals from McDonald’s. 

“They don’t have much so we decided to spoil them, at least until the lockdown is over,” Wagenaar said. DM