The sign language interpreter at Nelson
Mandela's funeral has said a schizophrenic
episode was to blame for accusations that he was an imposter who gesticulated nonsense during the entire service. Thamasanqa Jantjie was branded as a
scurrilous fake after members of South
Africa's deaf community said his signing at
Tuesday's memorial ceremony had amounted
to nothing more than "flapping his arms
around."
In an interview Thursday with the
Johannesburg daily, The Star, Jantjie put
his behaviour down to a sudden attack of
schizophrenia, for which he takes medication.
He told the newspaper that he lost
concentration, started hearing voices and
hallucinating. "There was nothing I could do. I was alone in a very dangerous situation," he said. "I tried to control myself and not show the world what was going on. I am very sorry. It's
the situation I found myself in," he added. Jantjie's efforts at the memorial service,
during which he translated eulogies by US
President Barack Obama among others,
triggered outrage in the deaf community and prompted a government investigation.
Cara Loening, director of Sign Language
Education and Development in Cape Town,
labelled him a "complete fraud" whose signing looked like someone "trying to swat a few flies away from his face and his head". Asked why he didn't just leave the stage,
Jantjie said that, given the historic
importance of the event, he felt compelled
to stay even though he could not hear or
concentrate properly. "Life is unfair. This illness is unfair," he said. "Anyone who doesn't understand this illness will think that I'm just making this up," he
added.
Attended by nearly 100 sitting and former
heads of state or government, the speeches
at Mandela's memorial were supposed to be
interpreted into sign language for deaf
viewers. Jantjie's signing appeared at odds with that of the public broadcaster's signer, who was shown in a small insert box on SABC television screens.
The interview with The Star did not address
the fact that Jantjie's competence had
been called into question before the
memorial furore erupted. The South Africa's Translators' Institute said they already had reservations about Jantjie, who had previously signed at the ruling ANC
party's events, including its centenary
anniversary last year. The institute's chairman Johan Blaauw said there had been complaints over his work on those occasions as well, but the ruling party took no action.

http://m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/news/mandela-memorial-sign-language-interpreter-39-fraud-39-124855704.html?orig_host_hdr=uk.news.yahoo.com&.intl=GB&.lang=en-GB[left][/left]

You go fear fear na

smiles

Africa.....we always embarrass ourselves so because he was endorsed by the ruling party he knows what is doing despite the fact that the regulatory body observed he his incompetent. It is a shame.

Though I do not understand sign language, I also thought that guy looked funny with his hands flying all over the place.