By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK The Church in Namibia has lost its once exceptionally strong societal and political transformational influence as the voice of the voiceless. This critical assessment came from the outgoing preacher of the United Reformed Church in Khomasdal, Reverend Zack Pienaar, on the eve of his departure for South Africa. The fiery preacher, who in three years brought a new meaning and interest to the church in Khomasdal, has accepted a post at a church with the same dogma in Bloemfontein. Pienaar will deliver his farewell sermon this Sunday before he and his family leave for South Africa next week. The Mariental United Reformed Church was his first post shortly after he completed his studies in 1993 at the University of the Western Cape. “Before I accepted the post in Khomasdal, I was working as a consultant among the marginalized communities in the capital in conjunction with the Dutch Reformed Church, primarily doing counselling work. During that time, I also established what is today known as the Life Change Centre that was financed by sponsors,” said Pienaar, who is widely recognized and respected as an expert on the social and cultural problems the nation faces. “There are many people in the capital, as well as in the country, who live under the breadline. This is a sad state of affairs, mostly among the many single parent family units. Not to mention the pensioners who, in most cases, have to care for their grandchildren. In many instances, single mothers become prostitutes in order for their families to survive economically, a painful experience for any God-fearing person,” said Pienaar. “The saddest part is that children of sex workers are following in the same footprints as their mothers, specifically in Katutura and, to a lesser extent, in Khomasdal. We have worked hard in creating job opportunities for many of these lost souls by way of needlework classes and baking classes,” he said. Pienaar is of the opinion that Khomasdal itself has transformed into a crime nest for young people due to their many social, educational and cultural problems. “Many young people have turned to crime, drug and alcohol abuse because of the high rate of unemployment. Many of the young school leavers do not find jobs and remain unemployed for most of their lives, lost to society. This situation needs to be rectified as a matter of urgency by the Church, government and the private sector,” Pienaar said. Pienaar went on to highlight the socio-economic plight of the Coloured people in Khomasdal, many of whom are members of the congregation of 2ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000 he has worked with for the past three years. “The morale of the people is very low because they feel they are being discriminated against in basically every sphere. These people feel they are being unfairly treated compared to the whites, former privileged citizens. This I categorically deny because many Coloureds also sacrificed their lives for the ultimate freedom of this country. They deserve to be treated better,” Pienaar said. He said there are too many social problems facing the Coloured people in the new dispensation. “Many of these problems give rise to others such as an exceptionally high rate of teenage pregnancies, which further contributes to poverty and other social evils,” he said. The pastor also expressed concern about the fact that the country’s flourishing construction industry was also sidelining the Coloured community. “Traditionally, they have been actively involved in the building industry, but gradually these people have lost their jobs because of an influx of cheap Chinese and Japanese workers. I feel they have been sidelined by the government for whatever reasons, unknown to many,” said Pienaar, who specifically referred to the building and cleaning up of the Heroes Acre in which no locals were employed albeit on a temporary basis. Pienaar also blamed prostitution, joblessness, drug and alcohol abuse for the rapid spread of AIDS among the Coloured people. “The numbers of AIDS patients are growing daily, judging by the many funerals I conduct weekly. There are also many other people in the Khomasdal community who keep their AIDS status secret, afraid of being stigmatized and rendered redundant in their jobs. In this, the church must act swiftly to help such people come out into the open so that they are assisted medically or otherwise,” he suggested. In Pienaar’s opinion, the Church in Namibia is supposed to be the moral conscience of the Namibian government. “I am not so sure about that anymore because too much corruption and other ill-practices take place daily in the government service. Furthermore, we are facing a leadership crisis in the church, something that negatively influences the everyday life of thousands of Namibians,” said Pienaar.