Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair has been accused of racial discrimination after it said it would not allow South African nationals to board its planes unless they complete a knowledge test in Afrikaans, a language that is commonly used in the country. Despite being the third most-spoken language in South Africa, the test is still required to prove one’s nationality.
South African passengers were humiliated by the test, which was carried out without warning and was allegedly prompted by the cases of fake passports. The test included several grammatical and spelling errors. It also asked about the country’s highest mountain and the side of a road that South Africans typically drive on.
Although Afrikaans is widely used in South Africa, it is not widely spoken. During the apartheid era, it was often used by the white minority regime to oppress the black community. After the country’s constitution was established following the end of the apartheid, multiple official languages were established.
South African travelers said they were baffled by how the questions on the test were designed to check their identity documents. For instance, Novazi said that even non-South African nationals could easily answer the questions. According to Joseph, the airline did not even look at his passport when it asked the questions. It is considered offensive and completely ridiculous, he said.
