Lawyer tells of Afrikaans test at UK airports
A number of South Africans living abroad have taken their frustrations to social media platform and accused the UK of blocking them at airports unless they pass an Afrikaans test.
Some people demanded answers from Ryanair, an Irish airline, notes a report on the IoL site.
On Friday morning, South African attorney Zinhle Novazi, who was travelling from Spain to London, told PowerFM that she was also required to fill in the form which was in Afrikaans.
Novazi said she was told that the reason of the questionnaire offered only in Afrikaans was because there was a high prevalence of fake SA passports.
‘I was shocked, initially I asked why the questionnaire couldn’t be in English and I was told that if it was English it would have been easy for South Africans to pass, and they picked an African language which is Afrikaans,’ said Novazi.
Novazi said she told the immigration officers that less than 10% of South Africans speak Afrikaans and at least they should have gone for a prominent language like isiZulu.
‘There was a back and forth and the immigration officer told me that if I have a problem, I’m allowed to raise my issues at the immigration office.’
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
