DUBLIN/JOHANNESBURG – Ryanair is requiring South African passengers to prove their nationality before traveling by completing a test in Afrikaans, a language used by just 12% of the population that has long been identified with apartheid and the white minority.
Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, which does not operate flights to and from South Africa, said it required any UK-bound passengers from the country to fill in the “simple questionnaire” due to what it described as a high prevalence of fraudulent South African passports.
I am #Afrikaans,I don’t agree that a language is racist. But how it is used is racist. This is the dumbest and most damaging thing done with Afrikaans since Die Antwoord were allowed to make music.Use English, the most inclusive of the 11 languages. #Ryanair
— Erika van den Berg (@ErikavandenBerg) June 6, 2022
“If they are unable to complete this questionnaire, they will be refused travel and issued with a full refund,” a spokesman for the Irish airline said.
Home Affairs department, which has warned of syndicates selling fake passports, said it would issue a statement on the Ryanair test.
The UK High Commission in South Africa said on Twitter that the Ryanair test was not a British government requirement to enter the United Kingdom. The Irish High Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The low-cost carrier said the test would apply to any South African passport holder flying to Britain from another part of Europe on the carrier. The airline did not immediately respond to a query about why it would apply to those routes, given Britain says it is not a requirement.
Zinhle Novazi, a South African attorney, faced the test when travelling by Ryanair from Ibiza, Spain, to London on May 29.
Some of the questions include naming the highest mountain in South Africa, its largest city and one national holiday.
“I was able to answer the questions,” said Novazi, who learnt Afrikaans in school but is not a native speaker of the language. She was then allowed to board the plane.
Novazi wrote to South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation on June 1 but has not received a response.
The department did not respond to a request for comment. The test triggered a backlash from South Africans all over.
“They’re using this (test) in a manner that is utterly absurd,” Conrad Steenkamp, the chief executive officer of the Afrikaans Language Council, said.
Afrikaans is the third most spoken of 11 official languages in South Africa, used by 12% of the 58 million people in the country. It has long been identified with the ideology of apartheid and was considered the official language until the end of apartheid in 1994.
As a former Airport employee who lost my job as a direct consequence of the pandemic, I’d just like to say to whomever it may concern; This is what happens when you put shareholders & six figure salaries ahead of the people that do the actual work. #travelchaos #easyJet #Ryanair
— Maxwell Watson (@MaxwellWatson79) May 31, 2022
Black people were only taught and spoken to in #Afrikaans during apartheid. Now they can choose to never utter another Afrikaans word ever again if they want. People died for those rights. Shame on you #Ryanair
— Erika van den Berg (@ErikavandenBerg) June 6, 2022
@Ryanair is happy to profile people entering Ireland racially to see if they are really South African. You need to fill out a form in Afrikaans to prove your citizenship. @DIRCO_ZA are you aware of this? @tumisole can you help get some answers? #Afrikaans #SouthAfrica #Ryanair pic.twitter.com/8ImAbbzD0d
— Mrs_K aka Sexy Wheels♿️🙋♀️🇿🇦👩🎓🐓🦄 (@disabledaver) June 6, 2022
Dear fellow South Africans, if you’re flying @Ryanair with a South African passport you may be subject to a ridiculously racist general knowledge test in Afrikaans so they can “prove” your nationality. #Ryanair #afrikaans #southafrica #removethisform
— Jocelyn van Vuuren (@JocelynJvV) June 6, 2022
1. The new rule implemented by #Ryanair to put South African through a general knowledge test in Afrikaans is discriminatory. #Ryanair is currently conducting the test for every person travelling with a South African passport and it is completely in #Afrikaans.
— Information Hub (@Multi_Facet) June 6, 2022
@Ryanair doing the peoples work making South Africans do an afrikaans test, why so dramatic 😂😂😂 #Ryanair #afrikaans #SouthAfricans #hilarious
— William Esau (@MrE233) June 3, 2022
