The decision by the Irish airline Ryanair, to continue to force South African passengers to take a test in Afrikaans, has been described as absurd.

Ryanair defended its decision yesterday, and says airlines are fined up to two thousand pounds per passenger, traveling illegally to the UK.

According to the airline, there is an increase in cases of people traveling with forged South African passports.

Ryanair has been heavily criticized, and the decision has made global headlines.

The CEO of the Afrikaanse Taalraad, Conrad Steenkamp says the whole debacle is likely to escalate, if Ryanair does not review or abandon the test:

Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, is facing accusations of racism for requiring South African customers to prove their citizenship by taking a written test in Afrikaans, a derivative of the Dutch language developed by European colonists. https://t.co/JtaANuPJhL

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 9, 2022

South Africa has 11 official languages . Interesting that isiZulu , which is the most widely spoken language is not part of their test. Also worth noting that a large proportion of Black (what in SA wd be called African) ppl do not speak Afrikaans. https://t.co/V9RcpF1yaB

— Lebo Diseko (@lebo_diseko) June 9, 2022