Would you like to become a volunteer and help to capture data? Or do you have data that has been captured already that you would like to add to one of our databases? Click here to volunteer.

Ancestry24's primary challenge is to make as much information as possible to anyone who wants to trace their South African Roots. Most of this information exists in paper format that deteriorates over time due to excessive use and handling. Making this available in an electronic format means it will be preserved for eternity. You can help us with this mammoth task.

By volunteering, you will receive digital images from which you capture the information and transfer it over to Excel Templates. This varies from Church Records, Death Notices, Inhabitants of the Cape etc. This is all done in your own time, and you can specify how many work you would like to receive.

Due to the huge amount of immigrants arriving in South Africa during the 1800's many family historians have found it hard to try and trace how and when their ancestors arrived in South Africa. Many of these immigrants that arrived came either on their own or with other family members that did not have the same surname as there own. We would like to try and capture as many ships passenger lists and church records as possible.

Most passenger lists were published in the daily newspapers in Cape Town. Many of these passengers listed were only the 1st, 2nd Class and Saloon passengers whilst the rest were usually never mentioned. You volunteering to help in transcribing this mammoth project will be beneficial to all Family Historians World Wide.

Church records in this country are also in many instances in disrepair and we would like to get volunteers to help transcribe important Church Registers before they disappear forever. Church Records are unfortunately not available that often to transcribe but should they become available we will need volunteers as well.

If you have ANY ships passenger lists that you would like to make available or know of anyone who has any, please let us know. The same also applies for hidden church records of any denomination whatsoever.

If you also live near a cemetery and would like to become a "Friend of the Crypt" and help us photograph and transcribe headstones – please email us here

Did you know ?

Did you know that 99.9% of all genealogical material in South Africa is housed in the National Archives, Department of Home Affairs, universities and other tertiary institutions and less than 1% has been digitised or placed into electronic format? This information exists in paper format that deteriorates over time due to excessive use and handling. Making this available in an electronic format means that a) it will be preserved for eternity and b) it can be made available to a wider audience.

If you would like to volunteer and become involved in ensuring the documentation of South Africa’s history, please sign up here as an official Ancestry24 Scribe!

Please e-mail the Ancestry Team.

E-mail us to join our volunteer program and make a difference.

Positive feedback from our Volunteers:

I really enjoy doing this work! Some good news – I found two of my relatives amongst this lot!! Two Fishes! They were born in Uitenhage and obviously moved to Grahamstown. – Maureen Griffen (Knysna)

Thank you, and guess what I found – a Hemsted in the 1871 Cape Almanac, or my first enquiry, could be the missing link we are looking for. – Chris Hemsted

I found this last lot of "etimologie" very interesting as some of the surnames are in our family tree. Like Struwig [my maternal grandfather] – Roodt – my husband's great grandmother's maiden name – and Cramer – my husband's mother's maiden name. I am also learning my Afrikaans all over again. - A. Labuschagne

The Almanac's are fascinating books as I grew up in the city bowl and my ancestors lived in many of those streets. I am going to be forced to join to get access to these! – David Bossenger

My great-grandfather's grandfather is on image 31! – Vivian Watts