The MASETI indexes are here: http://www.justice.gov.za/master/m_main.htm Near the bottom of the page you will find two links to MASETI DATA. I am still trying to figure out what to do with it. By all accounts, customer service at the Cape Town Master's Office is non-existent. I have been told not to bother. Keith ------ Original Message ------ Received: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 02:01:01 PM EST From: Leanne Starkey <[email protected]> To: ZA-IB Rootsweb <[email protected]>, [email protected] Subject: [SOUTH-AFRICA] 1974 Cape Town Masters Office Estate Files Index Hello everyone, I've used the Maseti files to extract and compile an index for the 1974 Estate files held at the master's office and available to view on familysearch.org. The index can be viewed on my site (as a registered user due to privacy laws here in the Netherlands) http://www.recordsandresources.com/ best wishes, Leanne ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Keith Thank you for the link to the MASETI indexes, which I think could prove invaluable to researchers. I have had a brief look at Pietermaritzburg which have been (partly) captured from 1994 to 2008 and Cape Town from 1951 to 2008. The latter will be very handy as Deceased Estate file numbers are currently only available on the National Archives website up to 1950 (I think). It will be necessary to know the persons first name as the MASETI index is sorted on first name in alphabetical order, in about 50 files. I have already managed to find the Estate number of a relation who died in 1982 which would have been difficult without these indexes. The challenge now is to view its contents! (I live in Durban) Your comments re the lack of service at the Cape Town Master's office tends to holds true for most Government offices in South Africa these days! Obviously Mrs Le Roux has left as she used to be very efficient, knowledgeable and helpful. Adrian -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Keith Meintjes Sent: 16 November 2013 06:06 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Masters Office Estate Files Index (MASETI) The MASETI indexes are here: http://www.justice.gov.za/master/m_main.htm Near the bottom of the page you will find two links to MASETI DATA. I am still trying to figure out what to do with it. By all accounts, customer service at the Cape Town Master's Office is non-existent. I have been told not to bother. Keith ------ Original Message ------ Received: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 02:01:01 PM EST From: Leanne Starkey <[email protected]> To: ZA-IB Rootsweb <[email protected]>, [email protected] Subject: [SOUTH-AFRICA] 1974 Cape Town Masters Office Estate Files Index Hello everyone, I've used the Maseti files to extract and compile an index for the 1974 Estate files held at the master's office and available to view on familysearch.org. The index can be viewed on my site (as a registered user due to privacy laws here in the Netherlands) http://www.recordsandresources.com/ best wishes, Leanne

On 15 Nov 2013 at 23:05, Keith Meintjes wrote: > The MASETI indexes are here: > > http://www.justice.gov.za/master/m_main.htm > > Near the bottom of the page you will find two links to MASETI DATA. I am > still trying to figure out what to do with it. > > By all accounts, customer service at the Cape Town Master's Office is > non-existent. I have been told not to bother. Back in 2008 we went to the Master's office in Pmb with a list of estate files we wanted to see. They said we would have to apply for them, and come back in a week, because they would have to be ordered from where they were stored, in Pinetown. On my previous visit there, in 2001, there had been no problems, but in 2008 there were queues stretching outside the building. I think the older files were due to be transferred to the archives, but the archives building was being renovated, so there was no point in sending them there. I think something similar is happening in other provinces. Also, in the last 20 years or so, there has been an increase in general prosperity, and so the number of people dying with reportable estates has risen enormously. I suspect that the big change came when most urban black townships switched from rental housing to private ownership. This means that the workload on people at the Masters' offices has increased, but their staff and storage space have not increased to keep up. -- Steve Hayes E-mail: [email protected] Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm Phone: 083-342-3563 or 012-333-6727 Fax: 086-548-2525

I was aware of the problems at the Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository owing to the renovations which have been ongoing for several years owing to the useless contractors who were appointed originally. I was aware that their Archivalia were being stored off-site, but I was not aware that they were being stored in Pinetown. There was a huge fire in Pinetown about 1 month ago in which a 4 storey document storage facility was destroyed. I sincerely hope that none of our precious records were stored in that facility? Adrian -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Steve Hayes Sent: 16 November 2013 08:57 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Masters Office Estate Files Index (MASETI) On 15 Nov 2013 at 23:05, Keith Meintjes wrote: > The MASETI indexes are here: > > http://www.justice.gov.za/master/m_main.htm > > Near the bottom of the page you will find two links to MASETI DATA. I > am still trying to figure out what to do with it. > > By all accounts, customer service at the Cape Town Master's Office is > non-existent. I have been told not to bother. Back in 2008 we went to the Master's office in Pmb with a list of estate files we wanted to see. They said we would have to apply for them, and come back in a week, because they would have to be ordered from where they were stored, in Pinetown. On my previous visit there, in 2001, there had been no problems, but in 2008 there were queues stretching outside the building. I think the older files were due to be transferred to the archives, but the archives building was being renovated, so there was no point in sending them there. I think something similar is happening in other provinces. Also, in the last 20 years or so, there has been an increase in general prosperity, and so the number of people dying with reportable estates has risen enormously. I suspect that the big change came when most urban black townships switched from rental housing to private ownership. This means that the workload on people at the Masters' offices has increased, but their staff and storage space have not increased to keep up. -- Steve Hayes E-mail: [email protected] Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm Phone: 083-342-3563 or 012-333-6727 Fax: 086-548-2525

Archives contracted The Document Warehouse to store their files during renovation. This was done at a site in Cato Ridge. All those estate files are now back in Pmb Archives. Later files held by the Masters Office will not be released to Archives in future. I am told it's because 1) Confidentiality reasons: 2) Archives don't have the space. Some while back I heard through the grapevine that The Masters Office were looking to establish their own separate Archive. Heard nothing since. John -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Milly & Adrian Rowe Sent: 16 November 2013 09:04 AM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Cc: Judith Hawley; Pieter Nel Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Masters Office Estate Files Index (MASETI) I was aware of the problems at the Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository owing to the renovations which have been ongoing for several years owing to the useless contractors who were appointed originally. I was aware that their Archivalia were being stored off-site, but I was not aware that they were being stored in Pinetown. There was a huge fire in Pinetown about 1 month ago in which a 4 storey document storage facility was destroyed. I sincerely hope that none of our precious records were stored in that facility? Adrian -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Steve Hayes Sent: 16 November 2013 08:57 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Masters Office Estate Files Index (MASETI) On 15 Nov 2013 at 23:05, Keith Meintjes wrote: > The MASETI indexes are here: > > http://www.justice.gov.za/master/m_main.htm > > Near the bottom of the page you will find two links to MASETI DATA. I > am still trying to figure out what to do with it. > > By all accounts, customer service at the Cape Town Master's Office is > non-existent. I have been told not to bother. Back in 2008 we went to the Master's office in Pmb with a list of estate files we wanted to see. They said we would have to apply for them, and come back in a week, because they would have to be ordered from where they were stored, in Pinetown. On my previous visit there, in 2001, there had been no problems, but in 2008 there were queues stretching outside the building. I think the older files were due to be transferred to the archives, but the archives building was being renovated, so there was no point in sending them there. I think something similar is happening in other provinces. Also, in the last 20 years or so, there has been an increase in general prosperity, and so the number of people dying with reportable estates has risen enormously. I suspect that the big change came when most urban black townships switched from rental housing to private ownership. This means that the workload on people at the Masters' offices has increased, but their staff and storage space have not increased to keep up. -- Steve Hayes E-mail: [email protected] Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm Phone: 083-342-3563 or 012-333-6727 Fax: 086-548-2525 ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2014.0.4158 / Virus Database: 3629/6838 - Release Date: 11/15/13

My last reply to your comments relating to the Estate Files being stored in Pinetown had led me to believe that you were referring to the Deceased Estate files up to 1974 which are held by the Natal Archives and have been off-site whilst renovations have been carried out. I copied my email to the Archives and have just received the following reply from Pieter Nel "We did have documents at Document Warehouse here in Pietermaritzburg. It was Metro File who had the fire. We should have most of our documents back at our Repository by the end of November 2013." I was not aware that the PMB Master's office was storing (1975 on) files in Pinetown as the last time I was there, they were using a building across the street from their office for storage purposes. Unfortunately I no longer have a contact in their office to ascertain the present location of their files. Adrian -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Steve Hayes Sent: 16 November 2013 08:57 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Masters Office Estate Files Index (MASETI) On 15 Nov 2013 at 23:05, Keith Meintjes wrote: > The MASETI indexes are here: > > http://www.justice.gov.za/master/m_main.htm > > Near the bottom of the page you will find two links to MASETI DATA. I > am still trying to figure out what to do with it. > > By all accounts, customer service at the Cape Town Master's Office is > non-existent. I have been told not to bother. Back in 2008 we went to the Master's office in Pmb with a list of estate files we wanted to see. They said we would have to apply for them, and come back in a week, because they would have to be ordered from where they were stored, in Pinetown. On my previous visit there, in 2001, there had been no problems, but in 2008 there were queues stretching outside the building. I think the older files were due to be transferred to the archives, but the archives building was being renovated, so there was no point in sending them there. I think something similar is happening in other provinces. Also, in the last 20 years or so, there has been an increase in general prosperity, and so the number of people dying with reportable estates has risen enormously. I suspect that the big change came when most urban black townships switched from rental housing to private ownership. This means that the workload on people at the Masters' offices has increased, but their staff and storage space have not increased to keep up. -- Steve Hayes E-mail: [email protected] Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm Phone: 083-342-3563 or 012-333-6727 Fax: 086-548-2525

Hi Keith, The MASETI xls file data is sorted alphabetically by FORENAME ... most odd, but there you have it. In addition, the Deceased's Surname is actually the spouse's surname and vice-versa. They're not the easiest indexes to navigate. That was the reason I extracted and re-worked the 1974 data, to make it easier to locate the relevant images, recently made available on the familysearch site. best wishes, Leanne On Sat, Nov 16, 2013 at 5:05 AM, Keith Meintjes <[email protected]> wrote: > The MASETI indexes are here: > > http://www.justice.gov.za/master/m_main.htm > > Near the bottom of the page you will find two links to MASETI DATA. I am > still trying to figure out what to do with it. > > By all accounts, customer service at the Cape Town Master's Office is > non-existent. I have been told not to bother. > > Keith > > > > ------ Original Message ------ > Received: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 02:01:01 PM EST > From: Leanne Starkey <[email protected]> > To: ZA-IB Rootsweb <[email protected]>, > [email protected] > Subject: [SOUTH-AFRICA] 1974 Cape Town Masters Office Estate Files Index > > Hello everyone, > > I've used the Maseti files to extract and compile an index for the 1974 > Estate files held at the master's office and available to view on > familysearch.org. > > The index can be viewed on my site (as a registered user due to privacy > laws here in the Netherlands) > http://www.recordsandresources.com/ > > best wishes, > Leanne > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >