Pastor in soup for feeding the homeless

Reverend Cecil Begbie from Lansdowne is in trouble for feeding 'noisy' homeless people. Picture: Bertram Malgas

Reverend Cecil Begbie from Lansdowne is in trouble for feeding 'noisy' homeless people. Picture: Bertram Malgas

Published Jan 23, 2017

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Cape Town – A Lansdowne pastor is in trouble for feeding homeless people at his house.

Reverend Cecil Begbie has been summoned to court after a neighbour complained about noisy beggars who come to his soup kitchen in St Joseph Road.

The holy man makes the food in his garage and then distributes the soup and bread to hundreds of hungry mense on a field opposite his house.

Begbie, 70, says the weird part is the complainant, Robbie Randall, used to work at the soup kitchen.

Begbie, the founder of the H.E.L.P Ministries International Trust, said he started the soup kitchen 19 years ago, and makes 1500 litres of soup a day, to feed 6 000 people five days a week.

Most of the food is distributed in other areas.

“We feed 1 000 adults and 5 000 children five days a week,” the reverend explained.

“These people come and wait outside on the field, whether it’s hot or pouring with rain, just to get one meal for the day.”

He said Randall, his next door neighbour, has been trying to shut down the soup kitchen for three years.

“My wife and I have been to Wynberg Court four times to sort out the matter."

We came to an agreement with my neighbour to distribute the soup away from the property,” said Begbie.

In 2014, they moved operations to the field opposite his house.

But that is apparently not good enough for Randall and last Thursday Begbie received another summons to appear in the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court on May 25.

A frustrated Reverend Begbie said Randall resigned 13 years ago.

“He used to work here for six years, he was one of my first cooks and drivers. My question is, why didn’t he have a problem with the noise when he worked here?

“We have done everything we can to keep the peace, but he still wants to take us to court. We will be going to defend ourselves,” he said.

Casual labourers like Chris Williams, 32, said the kitchen is a lifeline.

“These people that want to close the kitchen don’t care about us."

If the kitchen closes we won’t get food anywhere else,” Chris told Daily Voice.

Wayne Dyason, spokesperson for City of Cape Town’s Safety and Security, confirms Begbie has been charged with noise nuisance.

Dyason said: “The neighbour of the gentleman who is running the soup kitchen complained of noise emanating from the premises.

“The complaint is noise nuisance which is interfering with the comfort and convenience of the complainant in a residential area."

“The visitors to the soup kitchen congregate in front of the property and make a huge noise because of their sheer number.”

Randall would only tell the Daily Voice: “It is all in Law Enforcement’s hands, they’ve got everything and they will sort it out.”

Daily Voice

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