Rev Abe Maart - a legacy
2006-05-18
David Joshua
A HIGHLY respected Paarl parson, Rev Abe Maart (68), passed away on Thursday after serving for 31 years as minister of the Bethel Congregational Church.
Minister of the Church since 1975, Maart was known far and wide in the Paarl community, and was planning to retire in December.
He was taken ill on Sunday 6 May after the monthly Communion Service and was admitted to Paarl MediClinic. On the Tuesday he underwent an emergency heart operation, but his condition deteriorated until his death on Thursday evening.
Community worker, religious minister, leader, campaigner, diplomat, chairman, teacher, husband, family man - name it and ten to one all of these would have fitted Abe Maart like a glove.
Born in Alexandra, Johannesburg, on 10 December 1937, Maart was the eldest of eight children. His father was an activist and councillor on the Administration Board of the township.
Even as a child, when he witnessed Special Branch policemen ransack their home, he told his father John and mother Evelyn that he wanted to become a pastor.
He matriculated at the Euro African Centre in Vrededorp, Johannesburg, in 1958, and obtained a Teachers’ Certificate in 1961.
He taught for ten years, furthered his degree studies at Fort Hare University and at the Seminary in Alice, obtaining a BA in Theology with distinction in 1971.
After this he went on to obtain a Master’s Degree in Theology at the Cambridge University in England.
Said Maart, “It was in England that I was trained to understand the revolutionary dynamic to which the church is called. It was not a spectator of life, but had to be involved as an active and alive participant in serving the outcasts and people of this country.
“The Church had to be the vehicle by which people could be mobilised to resist oppression and to work for the good of all.”
On returning to South Africa, he went for a year of probationary ministry in George, worked for six months in Uitenhage with Alan Hendrickse and finally came to Paarl in 1975, marrying the love of his life, Myrtle Wyngardt. They have a son André.
She was at that stage deeply involved in the 1976 uprisings in Soweto, also typing pamphlets for distribution at the Christian Academy and driving students targeted by the authorities to the South African borders with neighbouring countries for their safety.
For doing this she was arrested under the terrorism act, spending six months in jail. Abe found a lifelong companion.
Maart discovered that there was a great deal of apathy and inertia in the church in dealing with the prevailing system then of subjugation and apartheid.
“Social conditions of the majority of people in Paarl were appalling, and little was evident of what the role of the church was in these conditions; little was done to help ordinary churchgoers to understand that people had human dignity and that they mattered."
He placed high emphasis on developing a pastoral approach in the community to help those suffering from unemployment and economic distress.
Through the Law Faculty of the University of the Western Cape, a Legal Aid Clinic was started to help people with their domestic and legal problems.
A Ministers’ Fraternal was founded to investigate ways and means of caring for others. Maart was also a founder member of the Churches Community Farm project at Ikhwezi.
Its job-creating component, Babathane, became a successful weaving project for unemployed Mbekweni women.
During the 1970’s and 1980’s Maart felt that the Church had to identify with the resistance movement in Paarl and endeavoured to be part of the struggle against Apartheid.
He was criticised for the fact that he often aligned with the political side of things, mobilising from the pulpit.
During this time, the community took to the streets accompanied by various organisations such as the Black Sash, PATU, PASA, COSATU and FAYCO, by marching against the political system.
“We often found ourselves exposed to the teargas and wrath of the civil authorities,” he said.
At the height of the national protest campaign, a “March of Concern” was held through the streets of Paarl on Saturday 21 October 1989.
At the forefront were Abe Maart with then rectors Jakes Gerwel of UWC, Franklin Sonn of the then Peninsula Technikon, Brian O’Connell of Athlone Teacher’s College, Rev Andrew Hunter of the Anglican Church in Mbekweni, Archbishop Henry Lawrence and Rev Peter-John Pearson of the Roman Catholic Church in Cape Town and local community leaders.
Still echoing his words then, Abe stated that “the experience was very positive and we felt that we’d achieved our goals with this non-violent way of expressing our dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in our townships.”
A smear campaign by the Security establishment sought to discredit Maart, and pamphlets were distributed throughout Paarl calling him a liar and thief.
He was branded a Marxist and Communist by the right wing Christian League organisation. Maart feared for his life when his car was also torched in front of his house.
To counter these actions a community committee, the Abe Maart Support Group, declared in a statement in the Paarl Post that they believed him to be a sincere pastor of God, that he stood for justice, righteousness, the poor and the marginalised.
One of the meetings of the group was disrupted in the church-house, while he was arriving at Cape Town International Airport from a visit to Germany. Some people were arrested by the security police.
Maart’s work took him overseas where he lectured audiences on Apartheid.
In Paris, he saw an apartheid security agent taking a photo of him and on arriving home found a file in his luggage with the words “You’re Never Free Brother” with the Afrikaans “Jy’s glad nie vry, neef”.
Since the passing of the days of activism he has continued as leader of his flock.
He has been especially active as chairman of the Athlone College of Education Board, the Athlone Trust and Ikhwezi community centre until his death.
Maart enjoyed good health till recently, played the organ as member of the Cape Guild of Organists, exercising, listening to classical music and working on a second master's degree on church history.
Of great concern to Maart was the ill health that has befallen his wife.
“I would have liked the two of us to spend time together at the sea,” he said recently with a far-off look in his eyes.
The funeral service is on Saturday at 11:00, with viewing in the church from 09:30.
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