Many travellers boarding a flight to their favourite international destination will be familiar with the ‘questionnaire’ that every passenger receives before hopping off the flight.
But receiving an Afrikaans test while flying to your destination is definitely a YouTube prank gone too far, right?
Wrong! According to several South African passport holders attempting to fly to and from the United Kingdom (UK), this is exactly what happened. Even more bizarre is the fact that they had to pass the general knowledge quiz in Afrikaans before they could board their planes or gain entry to the UK, as per News24.
South African authorities are currently investigating the matter, which reportedly took place on Irish airline, Ryanair.
Department of International Relations and Cooperation spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele indicated that the department had been notified of the reports.
“We’ve been alerted to it. We are working with our counterparts, both here and in the UK, to deal with it,” he said.
According to My Broadband, the quiz had been put in place by the British Government, with one South African expat claiming she was denied entry into the UK after getting three out of the 15 questions wrong. However, the UK government has since refuted the claim with many pointing the finger at Ryanair which appears to have implemented this strange requirement.
A few of the questions include: “Wie is die huidige president van Suid-Afrika?” And: “Wat is Suid-Afrika se amptelike geldeenheid?”
Check out the notorious questionnaire:
One of the big questions then becomes… what if you’re from South Africa but you’re terrible at speaking or reading Afrikaans?
“We had spent the weekend visiting my daughter in Ireland. When they gave me the form, I asked for it in English as I explained I was not fluent in Afrikaans. She told me to try my best. I understood most questions, but not all and I obviously got some wrong. I was gobsmacked. I had a valid passport and showed them our biometric residence permits,” said passenger Catherine Bronze, who had to return to the country she came from because she was denied entry due to not passing the quiz.
The general knowledge quiz is reportedly a precaution due to the increase in fraudulent South African passports. Unfortunately for South Africans looking to explore the world, our passport risks being devalued further as international crime syndicates are increasingly utilising it in illegal activity.
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Picture: Facebook / Home Affairs