Gert Alberts

{{short description|19th-century Boer explorer}}

File:Trekleier Gert Alberts.jpg

Gert Andries Jacobus Alberts (born 3 January 1836 in Swellendam – died 29 March 1927 in Humpata) was the leader of the First Dorsland Trek. He was a member of the Gereformeerde Kerk (or 'Dopper' church) and served as a church elder (‘kerkraadslid’).

Elected leader of the trekkers,{{cite book|author=Roger Webster|title=The Illustrated at the Fireside: True Southern African Stories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q1c9N2Ji3eAC&pg=PA18|year=2003|publisher=New Africa Books|isbn=978-0-86486-558-8|page=18}} he left Pretoria on 27 May 1874.{{cite web|title=The first group of Dorslandtrekkers (Thirstland trekkers), under leadership of Gert Alberts, leaves Pretoria|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/first-group-dorslandtrekkers-thirstland-trekkers-under-leadership-gert-alberts-leaves-pr|publisher=South African History Online|accessdate=31 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202152056/http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/first-group-dorslandtrekkers-thirstland-trekkers-under-leadership-gert-alberts-leaves-pr|archive-date=2 February 2014|url-status=dead}} Alberts led ten families across the Kalahari, taking 50 oxwagons and 1,400 cattle with them. He split the trek in three groups, with a two-day interval between them, to avoid overcrowding the rare waterholes along the path. Three families turned back before they crossed the Kgalagadi Desert, where a handful of cattle were lost during the waterless journey.{{cite book|author=Roger Webster|title=The Illustrated at the Fireside: True Southern African Stories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q1c9N2Ji3eAC&pg=PA18|year=2003|publisher=New Africa Books|isbn=978-0-86486-558-8|page=18}}

Reaching Lake Ngami on 29 April 1875,{{cite web|title=The first Boer Trek to Angola that started in 1874 reaches Lake Ngami (Thirstland Trek) |url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/first-boer-trek-angola-started-1874-reaches-lake-ngami-thirstland-trek |publisher=South African History Online |accessdate=31 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202152253/http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/first-boer-trek-angola-started-1874-reaches-lake-ngami-thirstland-trek |archivedate=2 February 2014 }} they demanded Hendrik van Zyl, a trader based in Ghanzi with a reputation for ruthlessness,{{cite book|author1=Lonely Planet|author2=Alan Murphy|author3=Anthony Ham|author4=Trent Holden |author5=Kate Morgan|title=Lonely Planet Botswana & Namibia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AvUpEsik5W4C&pg=PT213|year=2013|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74321-648-4|page=213}} access to his wells, but he initially refused. He ultimately agreed to let them have water, and the trekkers continued to Rietfontein, on the border with German Southwest Africa.{{cite book|author1=Chris Marais|author2=Julienne Du Toit|title=A Drink of Dry Land|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dEjiH0rMr-MC&pg=PA171|year=2006|publisher=Struik|isbn=978-1-77007-274-9|page=171}}

The group arrived in Rietfontein in January 1876,{{cite web|title=Gert Andries Jacobus Alberts (1836 - d.)|url=http://www.geni.com/people/Gert-Andries-Jacobus-Kmdt-en-leier-van-die-1ste-Dorslandtrek/6000000013007521716|publisher=Geni|accessdate=31 January 2014}} and Andries Lambert, the Oorlams captain at Gobabis, granted them permission to stay.{{cite book|author1=Chris Marais|author2=Julienne Du Toit|title=A Drink of Dry Land|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dEjiH0rMr-MC&pg=PA171|year=2006|publisher=Struik|isbn=978-1-77007-274-9|page=171}} They remained for a year, leaving only when they received a call for help from the second party of Dorsland Trekkers; they had attempted to cross the Kgalagadi with 500 people in 128 wagons, more than could be supported by the desert environment. Alberts and his group managed to rescue some of them, and they continued their trek, reaching Okavango, where they were struck by malaria.

Over a period of five years, the survivors arrived in the Humpata Highlands, in present-day Angola;{{cite web|title=Namibia: Holiday (12th to 27th of June 2010)|url=http://www.cardinal-consulting.co.za/content/Countries%20Visited/Namibia/2010%20Holiday/2010%20Namibia%20Holiday.html|publisher=Gerhard's Photo Adventures|accessdate=31 January 2014}} where Alberts died in 1927.