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(VIDEO-AT-LINK)The man accused of faking sign interpretation while standing alongside world leaders like U.S. President Barack Obama at Nelson Mandela's memorial service said Thursday he hallucinated that angels were entering the stadium, has schizophrenia and has been violent in the past. Thamsanqa Jantjie said in a 45-minute interview with The Associated Press that his hallucinations began while he was interpreting and that he tried not to panic because there were "armed policemen around me." He added that he was once hospitalized in a mental health facility for more than one and a half years.....

Hiring a sign language interpreter who claims to have had a schizophrenic episode while translating at the Mandela memorial was a mistake, the government has said. Thamsanqa Jantjie, who was criticised for apparently making "meaningless gestures" while interpreting the speeches of world leaders on stage, said he takes medication for the condition. He said he did not know whether it was the scale of the event or the happiness he felt about being involved that triggered the episode. The 34-year-old, who was pictured signing next to the likes of US President Barack Obama, claimed he suddenly lost concentration and started...

Johannesburg (AFP) - The sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial ceremony denied he was a fraud Thursday, claiming he gesticulated nonsense during the service because he was suffering a schizophrenic episode and hallucinating. Thamsanqa Jantjie has been branded a fraud by members of South Africa's deaf community, who said his signing for US President Barack Obama and other world leaders amounted to little more than "flapping his arms around." Jantjie on Thursday insisted he was a qualified signer, but said his behaviour was down to a sudden attack of schizophrenia, for which he takes medication.

The fake interpreter gestured during speeches by Mandela's grandchildren.The sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial "made up his own signs," according to South Africa's deaf federation."He's a complete fraud," Cara Loening, director of Sign Language Education and Development in Cape Town, said according to ITV News. "He wasn't even doing anything, There was not one sign there. Nothing. He was literally flapping his arms around."Delphin Hlungwane, an official South African sign language interpreter at DeafSA, told Reuters: "Nobody knows who he is. Even at this hour we still don't have his name," Hlungwane said.People on Twitter were calling for him to be...

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A man who appeared to provide sign language interpretation on stage for Nelson Mandela's memorial service, attended by scores of heads of state, was a "fake," the national director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa said on Wednesday. The unidentified man seen around the world on television next to leaders including United States President Barack Obama "was moving his hands around but there was no meaning in what he used his hands for," Bruno Druchen, the federation's national director, told The Associated Press. The allegation was yet another example of bad organization at the historic memorial...

ou can't make things like this up, but this unnamed man apparently did. From AP via My Way News (12/11/2013): Mandela ceremony interpreter called a 'fake' JOHANNESBURG (AP) - A man who provided sign language interpretation on stage for Nelson Mandela's memorial service, attended by scores of heads of state, was a "fake," the national director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa said on Tuesday. Asked about the claim by The Associated Press, South Africa's government said it was preparing a statement. Three sign language experts said the man was not signing in South African or American sign languages....

The sign language interpreter used at Nelson Mandela's football stadium memorial was a fake, it was claimed this morning. Braam Jordaan, a deaf South African and board member of the World Deaf Federation, said he believes the interpreter was making up signs as he went along. "The structure of his hand, facial expressions and the body movements did not follow what the speaker was saying", Mr Jordaan said. Mr Jordaan claimed the man, who signed for a portion of the ceremony including Barack Obama's speech, was simply making up his own signs.

A man who provided sign language interpretation on stage for Nelson Mandela’s memorial service, attended by scores of heads of state, was a “fake,” the national director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa said on Tuesday. The unidentified man seen around the world on television next to leaders like U.S. President Barack Obama “was moving his hands around but there was no meaning in what he used his hands for,” Bruno Druchen, the federation’s national director, told The Associated Press.

The international deaf community is angry over what they say was a fake sign language interpreter used at Mandela's memorial. Watch: The sign interpreter signing at the Mandela memorial service https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJlttIL2PSs (Real SASL in the box to the left. My comment.) It was an event the whole world was watching, but some deaf people couldn't understand a word spoken at Mandela’s memorial and took to Twitter to vent their frustration. Allegations have been made that the sign language interpreter used at the memorial may have been unqualified. Braam Jordaan, a deaf South African citizen and board member of the World...