If you are interested in tracing your ancestry, you can find your family history on the internet. Researching your ancestors and finding out who they were, what they did and how you came about is a very interesting process. You might find yourself linked to royalty, to a famous general from one of the wars or to a famous author. Whoever your trail leads you to, your ancestors are the reason that you are who and where you are and knowing their stories will help you discover more about yourself and your family.   How to trace your ancestry There are many historians and genealogists who specialise in tracing people’s ancestry. If you can find someone who knows what he or she is doing and who has access to information and a database of family links, they could help you find out about your family’s history. However, genealogists and historians who specialise in tracing ancestry are few and far between. You might not be able to find a professional to help you in your area. If you do, they will probably charge you a fee as well. There are, however, other, more convenient ways of tracing your family history.  … Read More

If you want to know who you are, what is in your blood and where you came from, trace your ancestry and discover your roots. Digging into the past can show you things about yourself that you never expected. Whether you look into your father’s side, your mother’s side or both, the journey will be well worth it. History has shown us amazing groups of people who, through the ages, have brought the world to civilisation. From the peasants of medieval times to the Vikings, the wise and fearsome tribes across Africa, the ingenious Egyptians and the terrifying Spartans, the lives of our ancestors fascinate us and instil pride in their achievements and strength. Which amazing group do you share your blood with? Tracing your ancestry is exciting and very interesting, but it can prove daunting. Most of us could go back several generations, with the help of a pen and paper and a great-aunt or two, but going back hundreds of years might seem impossible. Fortunately for many eager amateur genealogists there are many experienced historians and genealogists who have collected data, linked families and traced back generations upon generations of people.   Could this be your long lost… Read More

If you are looking to travel to the United Kingdom for whatever reason, you should know how to get working and holiday visas. A visa is an essential document to have before you travel almost anywhere beyond the borders of the country of which you are a resident. It is always a good idea to know exactly which visa you are looking for, what you will need to apply for a visa successfully and how far in advance you need to apply for your visa to ensure that you have it in time.   Where to apply for a visa VFS Global is a commercial company that works alongside the UK Border Agency at the British High Commission in South Africa. They have several centres throughout the country where you can make your application for either a working or holiday visa. The Johannesburg visa application centre can be found on the corner of Rivona Road and Sandton Drive in Sandton City. The Durban visa application centre is in Morningside on Crescent Street. The Pretoria visa application centre is in Brooklyn on 337 Veale Street. The Cape Town visa application centre can be found on 2 Riebeck Street. The Port Elizabeth… Read More

Human trafficking in South Africa is a huge problem that does not get much attention. There are many forms of trafficking with the most common being the sexual enslavement of women and children. The perpetrators are known to consist of both South African citizens and individuals from outside of the country. There are thought to be almost 30 000 child prostitutes in South Africa who are under the control of human trafficking rings. These rings are sophisticated, well organised and operated by very large groups of individuals. Without a doubt, there is not enough being done to stop this horrific activity and too many individuals suffer at the hands of these criminals.   How does human trafficking work? Many individuals, including men, women and children, are taken from their homes and forced into some form of slave activity or have their organs harvested and sold on the black market. Many men are forced into working in agriculture or in other industry as slaves, many women are forced into domestic servitude and many women and children are forced to work as prostitutes or are sold as sex slaves to individuals. The majority of the enslaved are individuals from poor, rural areas where… Read More

It's a lot easier now to find people online in South Africa with all the information now available. There are an easy 3 ways to search for someone using the internet. The best part is that all these searches can be conducted free of charge. If you do come across a people search tool online that requires payment via credit card, be wary. And make sure that it is a valid resource before you pay for anything. 3 Easy ways to find people online: Social networks Google search People search engines Find People Online with the Social networks One of the easiest ways to find people using the internet is to conduct searches on social networking sites. More people around the world are subscribing to social network sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Millions of people use Facebook on a daily basis to connect to family and friends. So there is a high chance that the person you are looking for is on Facebook. All you need to do is open a Facebook account (if you don’t already have one) and search for the person using the search function at the top of the page. To sign up for… Read More

With all the internet has to offer, it is an excellent resource to find long lost siblings online. Perhaps your brother or sister was put up for adoption many years ago, perhaps you have never even met him or her, or maybe you have just lost contact over the years? Whatever the case, it is worth your while to harness the information-sharing capabilities of the web to get in contact once again with your long lost relatives.   Where do I start? If you are an internet user, there is a large chance that you are one of Facebook’s over 500 million users. And there is a chance that your long lost sibling is too. If you are already a Facebook user, simply log on to your account and type the name of your sibling in the search function at the top of the page. A list of matching names will appear, and you can look through these to see if any relate to the person you are looking for. If so, you can contact them by sending them a Facebook message or adding them as a friend. If you are not already a Facebook user, opening up an account… Read More

“I’m married!” or “I’m divorced!” don’t exactly make for good introductory lines when looking for that special someone, so sometimes you have to use other tactics to check if a person is married or divorced. Most of us have been there at some point – the “Getting to Know You Catch 22”. Finding out if someone is taken or has been forsaken is important information to find out from the beginning; you probably don’t want to fall madly in love with somebody only to later find out that you’re “Steven on the Side” or “Susan on the Sly”.  The problem with this kind of information is that it is viewed as more personal; the kind of questions that would make for more polite conversation fodder on a third date rather than a first meeting. But who wants to waste time and money on dates one and two if date three will send you back to the singles club? So, how does one check if someone is married or divorced? The obvious answer may be… just ask! If you are worried that the person may not be honest with you, well, maybe they’re not the kind of person you want to… Read More

The Bureau for Missing Person’s in S.A has regional offices in all of the nine provinces. Below you will find the contact details for both the national and regional offices:     * Head office 012-393 2002     * Gauteng /Limpopo 011-670 0716     * Western Cape 021-467 8305     * Free State / Northern Cape 051-503 2820     * Eastern Cape 041-394 6715     * Kwa-Zulu Natal 031-325 4756     * Mpumalanga 013-759 1437     * North West 018 299 7034   Now that you have this information, it doesn’t really help you if you do not know what to do when you need to report a missing person. Firstly, the SAPS suggest trying to contact the person you think is missing before you report them. As obvious as this may sound, many people overreact and report people that aren’t actually missing to the police. If you suspect that someone is missing contact them, people they know, and anyone else who you think may know where to find them. Only if you are unable to trace them, should you begin the process of reporting them missing.   How to Report Someone Missing… Read More

What is mobile phone hacking? Many of you may be asking this question after the News of the World debacle that happened recently. A missing child called Milly Dowler had voice messages from her cellphone deleted by News of the World journalists in order to free up space for new messages. As a result, the police were led to believe that the girl was still alive but this was not the case. As a result, the journalists involved in this phone hacking scandal were arresting and are awaiting trial. You may be wondering how the newspaper managed to hack in to the girls phone and delete her messages. Well according to some experts, it is quite simple. However they do not believe that what the News of the World did was actually considered hacking, but rather just listening to voice messages. However, there is still the question of how they managed to get access to her cellphone. Firstly, apparently it is very simple (in the UK at least) to get in to someone’s voice messages. All you simply need to do is call the number and wait until the point where you are asked to leave a message. From there,… Read More

Starting your own family tree is simple and easy, the bit that is hard is following through on finding out about the rest of the family. This can turn in to a seriously lengthy process if you decide to investigate as far back as you can. However have no fear as here are some tips to get you on the right track.   Start with your immediate family Obviously the first step in starting your own family tree would be to start with your immediate family. They will be able to supply you with all of their birth certificates as well as give you information about their extended family which can help you on your way to starting a great family tree. Information that can be gathered from them includes marriages, divorces, and places of residence. Once you have collected as much information you can from your immediate family, you can then move on to step two of the process. Making contact This involves you getting in contact with extended members of the family if you can. This can involve a lot of leg work and waiting as you would need to find all the right contact information and then… Read More