Ryanair requires South African passengers to prove their nationality before traveling by taking an African-American test, a language used by only 12% of the population and identified with apartheid and the white minority for decades.
Europe’s largest passenger airline – which does not operate flights to and from South Africa – said it required all passengers stating that they were originally from South Africa and destined for the United Kingdom to complete the “simple questionnaire”. “because, as he says, there is a high number of fake South African passports.
“If they fail to complete this questionnaire, they will be barred from traveling and their money will be refunded,” said an Irish airline spokesman.
The South African Interior Ministry, which has warned that gangs are selling fake passports, said it would issue a statement on the matter.
The UK Embassy in South Africa said on Twitter that the Ryanair test was not a requirement of the British government to travel to Britain. The Irish embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The low-cost carrier said all South African passport holders wishing to fly to Britain from another part of Europe on its route would be tested. But he did not say why it would apply to those routes, as London says it does not require it.
The test provoked strong reactions from South Africans in Johannesburg.
“It is very biased for many non-African-speaking South Africans,” Sifiu Guala told Reuters. “They are using this test in a completely irrational way,” said Conrad Steenkamp, chief executive of the African Language Council, when asked if this was the right way to determine if the passengers were in fact South African.
Afrikaans is the third most spoken of the 11 official languages in South Africa and is used by 12% of the country’s 58 million people. It was considered the official language until the end of apartheid in 1994.
The language originated from Dutch settlers in South Africa in the 17th century and has long been identified with the racial inequalities and ideology of apartheid imposed mainly by the White Minority National Party since 1948.
Source: Capital
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