This is not a UK govt requirement, says embassy on Afrikaans questionnaire for South Africans

The UK embassy in South Africa says it is not a requirement for South Africans abroad to take an Afrikaans test to prove their citizenship before travelling to the country.

The UK embassy was responding to media reports and social media posts about people who were apparently made to write a test in Afrikaans to prove their citizenship before boarding flights to the UK.

Twitter user Ponky shared on Monday that a friend of theirs had just travelled back to the UK from Portugal and said “there is a new requirement for South African passport holders (at passport control) to answer a set of questions written in Afrikaans to prove they are indeed South African.”

Three days earlier, Will VD Byl had tweeted: “Just tried to check in. Flying Portugal – London. On a South African passport but have a UK residence permit. Was made to write a 2 page test in Afrikaans (asked for an English version but told the test was only in Afrikaans – btw SA has 11 official languages). Was told if I didn’t get 100% I wouldn’t be allowed to fly. Only after writing the test and having my answers checked was I given my boarding pass. This is outrageous. Can you please explain?”

The questionnaire has caused an uproar as South Africans call on Ryanair and the UK to explain the new rules.

Responding to the outrage, the UK embassy said on social media that the Afrikaans questionnaire was not a requirement for South African citizens to enter the country.

“This is not a UK Government requirement,” it tweeted, directing them to its website for information about the requirements for South African passport holders to enter the UK.

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Ryanair told News24 on Friday it was its responsibility to ensure passengers are correctly documented for travel.

“Due to the recent increase in passengers attempting to travel on fraudulent South African passports, our handling agents may request passengers travelling on a South African 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 was quoted as saying.