ONE of Namibia’s forgotten heroes of the South, Johannes Isaaks, has passed on and will be laid to rest next to Hendrik Witbooi in the Gibeon cemetery this weekend.
Isaaks had a distinguished career serving the Namibian community in various capacities, including teaching, language development, the local government, community development, church activities and in farming. Generations of Namibians across the country have had the benefit of his highly professional and dedicated teaching and community services. Born in the Gibeon district on January 23 1941, Isaaks trained as a teacher at the then Augustineum Teachers’ Training College at Okahandja in the 1960s. He started teaching at !Haib in the Karasburg District in 1964 and at Karibib in 1965. He was one of the first teachers of the new Augustineum College in Windhoek after it moved from Okahandja.'(He) was a dedicated and committed teacher. Although he was strict and very disciplined, he was also very helpful with guidance and counselling especially towards the young students staying in hostel coming from rural areas to the city of Windhoek,’ one of his former pupils, Labour Minister Immanuel Ngatjizeko, said at the memorial service on Monday.In 1971 Isaaks moved back to the South and started teaching at the St Theresa High School at Tses. This school was known for its political resistance activities in the 1970s. His time in Gibeon started at the State Nama School as a boarding master and teacher.He led the 1976 uprising of the Nama Teachers’ Union as its president. After a further strike in 1977, Isaaks left the Government school system in protest, teaching his children himself and for several years without a formal job.In 1978 Isaaks started getting involved in a series of community self-help development projectsl.He founded the AME Community Private School together with a number of teachers and leaders, including the late Reverend Dr Hendrik Witbooi.Isaaks was a freedom fighter in his own right and was at the centre of political struggles in the South, under constant harassment from the security forces.In 1977 he, together with other political activists under the leadership of Witbooi, confronted the South African army on the battlefield in the North, holding a banned Swapo political mass rally in Oluno in Ondangwa.When the South African security forces brutally and violently disrupted the rally, Isaaks was among those that were beaten and tortured and was seriously injured, having to receive medical treatment. Isaaks led the AME Community Private School in Gibeon for 22 years until his retirement in 2002.He was the first Mayor of Gibeon and served the ELCRN as a church elder for over 30 years. At retirement he became a fulltime commercial farmer on the farm Groen Rivier. He died at Windhoek Central Hospital on March 19 and leaves behind his wife, Magdalena, eight children, grandchildren and an extended family.A short memorial prayer service will be held between 13h00 and 14h00 at Avbob Funeral Services in Windhoek. Isaaks’s funeral service will take place at Gibeon tomorrow.
