Ryanair scraps 12-question Afrikaans test policy

Ryanair has announced that its controversial Afrikaans language test for South African travelers, which was intended to weed out people with forged passports, has been scrapped.

Following the uproar earlier this month, the Dublin-based airline changed its policy of requiring South African visitors to the UK to pass the quiz.

The test will be scrapped, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said at a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday. His comments were later confirmed by the airline’s press office.

According to O’Leary, passengers from South Africa had previously been required to take a 12-question Afrikaans test, which included naming a mountain outside of the capital Pretoria.

‘They have no trouble completing that,’ he added. ‘However, we didn’t think it was appropriate either,’ he added.

‘We’ve decided to end the Afrikaans test since it’s meaningless.’

Afrikaans is one of South Africa’s 11 official languages, and it is spoken by over 13% of the country’s almost 60 million people.

It’s a Dutch-based language formed by many of the country’s white settlers who immigrated from the Netherlands, and it’s linked to South Africa’s white minority rule, which ended in 1994.

After Zulu and Xhosa, it is the country’s third most spoken language.

One passenger who was requested to take the test described the policy as “apartheid 2.0… greater tyranny, further prejudice” on South African radio.

Zinhle Novazi, another disgruntled passenger, told the Financial Times that the approach is ‘very restrictive.’

She admitted that she does not generally speak Afrikaans but was forced to take the test in order to catch a flight from Ibiza.

She went on to say, ‘It obviously amounts to racial discrimination.’

The names of the country’s highest mountain and which side of the road South Africans drive on are among the questions.

The name of the country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is also requested of passengers.

Ryanair has issued the test in Afrikaans, despite the fact that it is less widely spoken than Zulu or Xhosa.

South Africans were outraged by reports of the questionnaire circulating on social media.

Because to the “high frequency of counterfeit South African passports,” the airline said it wanted travellers to pass the test.

Previously, anyone with a South African passport who failed to take or pass the test was denied travel and given a refund.

Despite Mr. O’Leary’s claims that South African passengers have no trouble passing the test, some South Africans have been unable to.

Dinesh Joseph, a passenger who does not speak Afrikaans, was turned away from a flight to the UK from Lanzarote in May after failing to take the exam.

‘We have a long and illustrious history. I identify as a person of color. ‘There’s an unconscious triggering that occurs,’ he explained.

Despite the fact that Ryanair does not travel to or from South Africa, it is Europe’s largest airline, transporting tens of millions of passengers annually between hundreds of destinations.