GSSA - New 2021

Cathy Potgieter 2021

Cathy Potgieter (born Elsie Cathrine van der Merwe) was born on Tuesday 25 Feb 1958 in what was then Salisbury, Rhodesia, better known today as Harare, Zimbabwe.

Mother Helen Johanna (born Heath) was of English descent and Father Cornelius Johannes van der Merwe was Afrikaans speaking, from the Vereeniging area. My mother died in a car accident when I was 3 years old in Rhodesia and my father and I then returned to South Africa. We stayed with my Grandma and Grandpa until my Dad remarried.

I went to school in the Vereeniging area, later also in Ladysmith, Natal and in 1975 matriculated at Drie Riviere High School, Vereening, Transvaal.

My working career was for + -35yrs at ArcelorMittal (formerly known as Iscor) initially as Financial Clerk, Secretary and later years as SHERQ System Administrator in Vereeniging with regard to Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Systems.All our children are independent and out the house and 3 of our 4 daughters are married. Their careers range from Shareholder (private business), Ophthalmologist (with own practice), Acting Accountant (NTT Toyota) to Teacher (Francis Vorweg School). Currently we have 4 granddaughters and 1 grandson with the 6th grandchild on the way in Jan 2021.

I like to be creative and do knitting, sewing, as well as gardening and travelling. The pension status is a very great experience and moving after many years has been a massive step in our lives, but life was very different in the Vaal Triangle than that we are now experiencing here in Jeffreys Bay. We have much more time for ourselves now so that we can do the outstanding family research regarding my Heath and Van der Merwe families and it is gratifying to have more time to work on it. Furthermore, I started painting and it's wonderful to see how much hidden talent I actually have.

In earlier years when the children were still small and playing tennis, I was the secretary of the Vaal Triangle Tennis Academy; later at the Vaal Triangle Walking Club and for the past few years secretary at the Vaal Triangle branch and NEC of Genealogical Society of South Africa.

Peter Moss 2021

Peter was born in the UK in 1943 and came to SA in 1952. In 1957 they moved to Lusaka in Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia), which was the start of the Moss Treks up and down Africa. Peter had attended St John’s College in Johannesburg, now went to Gilbert Rennie School in Lusaka and then Prince Edward in Salisbury. The following big step was 3 years at Leeds University in UK, from where he graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering in 1962. He returned to start work on the Zambian copper mines.

Beverley was born in Mufulira on the Zambian Copperbelt in 1952 and attended her primary school years there. From 1966 to 1969 she attended Arundel Girls School in Salisbury, after which she returned home to the Zambian Copperbelt and started secretarial work on the mines.

Peter and Beverley met on the mine in Chililabombwe, some five kms south of the Congolese border, in 1973. They were married there in 1975, and their sons Stewart (1977) and Adrian (1978) arrived shortly thereafter. They were then transferred to Kitwe in 1981, where Peter was Engineering Manager on the mine until 1984, before undertaking the longest portion of the Moss Trek to date – SA. Peter then continued his career with the mines until his retirement in 2017 – over 50 years working in the industry.

Beverley had started her genealogy even before our inevitable move to SA, undertaken by remote telephone calls from Kitwe to Harare (no cell data in those days) – Peter always did wonder why the bills were so high! Following our arrival in SA in 1984, we made an early trip to the main family farm cemetery at Grootvlei just south of Nylstroom, and of course faithfully recorded the family cemetery inscriptions. We were hooked!

The annual fees entitle you to belong to the GSSA National AND a home branch. In addition, you receive the quarterly journal Familia.

Upon joining you will select your preferred branch, e.g. Johannesburg branch, Vaal Triangle branch, Western Cape, etc. Besides the various land based branches, you could also join the virtual branch called the eGSSA, a web-based virtual branch.

In some instances branches levy an additional branch membership fee and there are also options to subscribe to newsletters from other branches – newsletters differ from branch to branch.

Download a copy of the membership application form that has all the relevant information you require. NOTE: You have two options to choose from should you wish to become a member of the GSSA.

Download the relevant application form above, decide on which branch suits you and pay the applicable fees. Send your completed form to the email address on it. You will be notified via email of your membership.
To join via the eGSSA branch, visit their membership page: and follow the instructions. The fee of the eGSSA consists of three elements, i.e. membership of the national GSSA; membership of the virtual branch eGSSA and as an optional member of a land based branch, as well.

Should you have any queries kindly This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The word "genealogy" has its origins in Greek, but put simply, it is about family - your ancestors and also your descendants. “In every conceivable manner, the family is (a) link to our past, (a) bridge to our future.” (Alex Hayley)

The genealogical terminology may sound confusing at times, but the concepts are actually easy to understand - a short video puts it in context.

The historical origins of genealogy span the centuries and the importance of genealogy manifested in various ways in the lives of our earliest ancestors, thousands of years ago, all the way to the royal houses.

Genealogy is important because it promotes deeper insight and knowledge of the history and the world in which we live. The value of genealogy today is even greater and more important than ever before.

Genealogy will take you on a journey, introduce you to remarkable people, lead you to faraway places and fascinating discoveries.

The benefits of genealogy extend far beyond the genealogists directly involved in this science. It promotes deeper and broader knowledge and insight into local, national and international historical events.

Most genealogists produce manuscripts and publish books about their research or share information via the internet, and consequently spread this knowledge around the world - at the same time making a contribution to the broader knowledge and understanding of South Africa.

The resources that those who preserve and help preserve are of historical and educational importance not only to genealogists but also to a variety of researchers in other disciplines.

The medical, scientific, academic (for example sociology, anthropology, psychology, writing and art), as well as the forensic community, increasingly call on genealogical support.