St Peters criticised for feeding hungry vagrants
PARKVIEW - The St Peters Church in Parkview found itself in a catch-22 situation after it had been accused of feeding the homeless people suspected to be behind the criminal activities in the suburb.
Concerns about the homeless people queuing up on Wednesdays for food parcels at the church were raised at the community safety forum hosted at Parkview police station recently.
Forum chairperson Costa Vranas said the issue stemmed from the complaint by the community which wanted the vagrants out of the streets and at the same time wanted to help them. “The problem is like a double-edged sword. The donation given to the church should be given to the central point like the shelter where the homeless stay.”
He said the problem was also experienced in Parkhurst and Craighall.
Residents pointed fingers at the church for contributing towards the criminal activities they suspected were perpetrated by those benefiting from the soup kitchen.
Incidents of housebreakings and muggings were said to be common in the suburb.
Station commander Nanda Moodley commented that the church was doing a noble thing by offering food to the vagrants. He however expressed worries about the vagrants loitering in the streets after dispersing from the church.
A security guard suggested that a campaign to evict the homeless from the parks be initiated. The suggestion was made under the assumption that those squatting in the parks were possibly the same people committing crime in the suburb.
Church’s feeding scheme manager Lucas Baloyi said the church was used by other donors as the central point to distribute food parcels.
“We really speak against crime and encourage people to seek for employment,” Baloyi said.
He challenged the community representatives to have a meeting with the church and talk about their concerns. And he said the church had invited the social worker to assist the homeless people to obtain the IDs.
“We are in talks with other shelters to provide accommodation to the homeless people,” said Baloyi. “Crime is experienced in every suburb and we, as the Christians don’t point fingers at people that they are bad. We are here to give them hope that they can change.”
“We encourage the businesspeople around here to visit our centre and see who they can hire among them.”
