Pretoria - A unique software system, termed ROSA which stands for Registration of South Africans Abroad, has been developed to help government track South Africans traveling abroad in case of emergencies.
The service is provided in the event that there is a need to contact South African travelers to offer urgent advice on a natural disaster, civil unrest or family emergencies.
Department of International Relations and Cooperation's Director General Ayanda Ntsaluba explained that South African travelers are able to use ROSA to register, update their profiles and de-register their profiles on-line.
"During the past few years, we have assisted a growing number of our people who have become victims of crime, accidents, illness, death, natural/man-made disasters, civil unrest or whose family and or next-of-kin needed to contact them in emergency," he said.
Mr Ntsaluba assured that the information supplied to ROSA would be treated in a confidential manner and may not be divulged to any outside party without the individual's consent.
South Africans are advised to register their international journeys with the department prior to travel to ensure that appropriate assistance can be provided to citizens in the unlikely event of an emergency whilst abroad.
More information can be found on the department's website using the link http://www.dfa.gov.za/consular/index.html.
