UK accused of blocking
South Africans at airports unless they pass Afrikaans test
2 June 2022
Several
South African passport holders who attempted to fly to and from the United
Kingdom (UK) claim they had to pass a general knowledge quiz in Afrikaans
before they could board their planes.
The
frustrated travellers headed to Facebook,
Twitter, and Reddit to share their experiences.
MyBroadband
spoke to a South African expat who said she and her 11-year-old son were denied
their boarding passes from Ireland West Airport Knock to the UK two weeks ago.
She got
three out of the 15 questions wrong.
They were
returning from a visit to her daughter in the Republic of Ireland for a
weekend. She had lived in the UK with her husband for two-and-a-half years.
When
arriving at the check-in counter, she was given the test — in Afrikaans.
The
border control official told her that the form had been put in place by the
British government.
While she
had a relatively solid understanding of the language, she still asked for the
test in English.
She
explained that South Africa had 11 official languages and that she was not
fluent in Afrikaans.
The
official could not provide her with a test in another language and told the
expat to do her best.
The test
questions are reproduced in the table below, in the left-hand column.
MyBroadband’s English translations of the questions are on the right.
General knowledge test questions for UK entry
|
Original question
|
English translation
|
|
Watter van die volgende is
Suid-Afrikaanse hoofstede? (Keuses: Pretoria, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein)
|
Which of the following are
South African capital cities? (Options: Pretoria, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein)
|
|
Wat is Suid-Afrika se amptelike
geldeenheid?
|
What is South Africa’s official
currency?
|
|
Noem drie van Suid-Afrika se
amptelike tale.
|
Name three of South Africa’s
official languages.
|
|
Aan watter kant van die pad
moet ‘n mens bestuur in Suid-Afrika?
|
On which side of the road must
you drive in South Africa?
|
|
Wat is Suid-Afrika se
internasionale landkode?
|
What is South Africa’s
international dialling code?
|
|
Wat is die naam van die
grootste stad in Suid-Afrika?
|
What is the name of South
Africa’s biggest city?
|
|
Wie is die huidige president
van Suid-Afrika?
|
Who is the current president of
South Africa?
|
|
Noem een van Suid-Afrika se
nasionale vakansiedae.
|
Name one of South Africa’s
national public holidays.
|
|
Wat is die naam van die hoogste
berg in Suid-Afrika?
|
What is the name of the highest
mountain in South Africa?
|
|
Wat is die naam van die bekende
berg in Kaapstad wat sommige glo is een van die oudste berge in die wêreld?
|
What is the name of the famous
mountain in Cape Town that some believe is one of the oldest in the world?
|
|
Wat is Suid-Afrika se nasionale
blom?
|
What is South Africa’s national
flower?
|
|
Wat is Suid-Afrika se nasionale
dier?
|
What is South Africa’s national
animal?
|
|
Waar is die Uniegebou?
|
Where are the Union Buildings?
|
|
Wat is Suid-Afrika se nasionale
kleure?
|
What are South Africa’s
national colours?
|
|
Watter een van die volgende is
‘n bekende Suid-Afrikaanse rivier?
|
Which of the following is a
famous South African river?
|
|
MyBroadband
has seen several photos online from different posters that appear to show varying
copies of the test.
The expat
said she saw no official stamps or branding on the questionnaire to indicate it
was an official document. She also did not have to write down her passport or
personal details.
She
suspected her test was scanned and sent somewhere for verification.
Despite
providing the officials with her and her sons’ biometric residence permits
(BRPs), she was forced to leave the airport and return to her daughter after
not getting full marks on the test.
She
contacted her immigration consultant, who confirmed she had wrongly been
refused the right to board as their visas and passports were valid.
Her
husband then flew to Dublin to fetch them, and they managed to leave via Dublin
Airport.
She
suspected they managed to get through on the second attempt due to her
husband’s British passport.
She
described the experience as “terrible” and said it felt like she had been
discriminated against.
Several
other members of the South Africans living in
London Facebook group complained about similar experiences.
One said
they received the form while travelling from the UK to Dublin.
Another
expat living in Dublin said an official told her if she could not complete the
test in Afrikaans, it proved she was not South African.
Another
South African working in the UK told SAfm
that several of her colleagues with UK work permits were also presented with
the form.
She said a friend flying from Ibiza airport to
London was handed the test.
Many of
the complaints seemed to be coming from travellers who had flights booked with
Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair.
The
British High Commission in South Africa said
in a post on Twitter that the questionnaire was not a UK government
requirement.
MyBroadband
reached out to the British High Commission in South Africa, the Embassy for
Ireland in South Africa, and Ryanair for comment on the test, but did not
receive feedback by the time of publication.
We also
contacted the Irish foreign affairs department, the South African High
Commission in London, and the South African Department of International
Relations and Cooperation. None answered their phones or responded to text messages
and email.
A South
Africans in London group member claimed a forensic investigator who dealt
with Home Affairs issues had told her the form was related to an influx of
people carrying fraudulent South African passports entering Europe.
Independent
crime and policing analyst Professor Johan Burger recently told The Sunday Times that the South African
passport risked being devalued further as international crime syndicates were
increasingly using it for illegal activities.
www.samigration.com