South Africans reportedly not allowed to board Ryanair for failing this Afrikaans test — How would you do?

Many are up in arms after Irish airline Ryanair made SA passport holders travelling to and from London answer an Afrikaans general knowledge quiz before boarding their flights. 

South Africans travellers were made to fill in a questionnaire in Afrikaans to prove their citizenship.

Speaking to News24, Ryanair said it had a responsibility to “ensure that passengers are correctly documented for travel to their destination”, in terms of section 40 of the UK Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

“Due to the recent increase in passengers attempting to travel on fraudulent SA passports, our handling agents may request passengers travelling on an SA passport, and who are flagged during procedural security profiling, to complete a simple questionnaire, as an additional safety assessment to confirm whether they are correctly documented before travel,” it said.

“As language proficiency is the least intrusive further safety assessment method, this questionnaire is conducted through Afrikaans, one of SA’s most prevalent official languages.”

The department of international relations and co-operation (Dirco) spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele told Jacaranda FM the department was looking into the claims.

“We are aware as learnt from the media. We are investigating the matter through speaking to our UK counterparts,” said Ngqengelele.

He said the department will consider a report into the incident before further addressing the matter.

“We hope to be able to say much when we have the report.”

The UK embassy in SA also responded to the claims, saying the quiz was not one of the UK government requirements for entry into the country. 

THE QUESTIONNAIRE- HOW WELL WOULD YOU DO?

The 15 questions asked before boarding the flight were:

1. Watter van die volgende is Suid-Afrikaanse hoofstede? (Which of the following are SA capitals?)
2. Wat is Suid-Afrika se amptelike geldeenheid? (What is SA's official currency?)
3. Noem drie van Suid-Afrika se amptelike tale? (Name three of SA's official languages?)
4. Aan watter kant van die pad bestuur 'n mens in Suid-Afrika? (On which side of the road do you drive in SA?)
5. Wat is Suid-Afrika se internasionale landkode? (What is SA's international country code?)
6. Wat is die naam van die grootste stad in Suid-Afrika? (What is the name of the largest city in SA?)
7. Wie is die huidige president van Suid-Afrika? (Who is the current president of SA?)
8. Noem een van Suid-Afrika se nasionale vakansiedae? (Name one of SA's national holidays?)
9. Wat is die naam van die hoogste berg in Suid-Afrika? (What is the name of the highest mountain in SA?)
10. Wat is die naam van die bekende bergreeks in Kaapstad wat sommige glo is een van die oudste bergreeks in die wêreld? (What is the name of the famous mountain range in Cape Town that some believe is one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world?)
11. Wat is Suid-Afrika se nasionale blom? (What is SA's national flower?)
12. Waar is Suid-Afrika se nasionale dier? (Where is SA's national animal?)
13. Waar is die Uniegebou geleë? (Where are the Union Buildings located?)
14. Wat is Suid-Afrika se nasionale sport kleure? (What are SA's national sports colours?)
15. Watter een van die volgende is 'n bekende Suid-Afrikaanse rivier? (Which one of the following is a well-known SA river?)

On social media, many expressed different opinions on the questionnaire, saying the airline was “tone deaf or just plain ignorant”. 

Here is a snapshot of what many had to say:

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