Gert Andries Jacobus Alberts (Grootpa Gert) Commandant and Leader of the First Dorsland Trek (*03.01.1836 Swellendam) (≈17.05.1836 Cradock) He left his farm in the Pretoria district on 15.05.1875 and arrived at Rietfontein on Jan. 1876 where his laer remained for two years until other groups of trekkers joined him and he decided to continue the trek northwards. Gert Alberts was a member of the ‘Gereformeerde Kerk’ (Die Doppers) and served as a ‘kerkraadslid’ (†29.03.1927 Humpata, Angola)