



Service Dining Rooms is an organisation that has been providing Cape Town's homeless with hot meals for decades in the CBD.

RELATED: One of Cape Town's biggest meal service projects needs your help

Image: @ServiceDiningRooms

However, since November this essential service has been hampered by "regular threats and aggressive behaviour" by a number of refugees based at the Central Methodist Church on Greenmarket Square.

The refugees camping out on the square were removed over the weekend and subsequently also moved from St Mary's Church when they tried to settle there.

RELATED: [VIDEOS] Police and City removed group occupying St Mary's on Sunday

On Monday, Service Dining Rooms shut its doors on the advice of the police.

Operations manager Karen Cain reports that they re-opened on Wednesday but again had to contend with aggressive behaviour when some refugees pushed their way into the queue.

She says they managed to contain the situation, but the relationship between the homeless community and refugees remains "extremely volatile".

We weren't really sure about anything, but after two days of our homeless community not receiving a meal - or actually since Friday - we thought that we should open and just see what happens. Karen Cain, Operations manager - Service Dining Rooms

Things went fairly smoothly until a few refugee latecomers came along and went right past all the people waiting in the queue and pushed in. Then conflict once again arose. Karen Cain, Operations manager - Service Dining Rooms

Some of the street people intervene and try and stop the other street people from getting involved in the conflict, defusing the situation. Karen Cain, Operations manager - Service Dining Rooms

She notes that other NGOs in the city centre that have ablution facilities are also being affected.

They have set up emergency meetings to discuss the problem, but an invitation to the ward councillor went unacknowledged.

It's just a huge impact. We don't even have the seating capacity - there's an increase every day of more and more people coming. We used to have around 250; it's gone up to 350 people. Karen Cain, Operations manager - Service Dining Rooms

We know our local homeless people; we know exactly who comes every single day and we know the new faces Karen Cain, Operations manager - Service Dining Rooms

It also causes conflict when we've got a street person counting out 10c pieces to pay for his meal which is R1 and you've got somebody else throwing a R100 note asking for R99 change. It's just becoming really uncomfortable. Karen Cain, Operations manager - Service Dining Rooms

Cain says the local homeless community themselves have suggested that Service Dining Rooms keeps on closing until things are resolved.

However, the meal provider will be open on Thursday she confirms.

Hear the complete conversation with Cain in the audio below: