PRETORIA, South Africa, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Members of the deaf community said an interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial service, who signed during President Barack Obama's speech, was a fake.
"It seems quite obvious that the interpreter isn't using South African sign language," said Sheena Walters, the Oceania representative for the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters.
"Most sign languages across the world share a similar structure and pattern and this person seems to be making a lot of repetitive signs and isn't displaying the usual facial expression or structure of sign language that you would normally see."
Braam Jordan, a deaf South African and a member of the World Federation of the Deaf Youth Section, told SBS World News, Australia, he was upset by the problem and there have been similar problems at other African National Congress events.
"He made up his own signs," he said. "What happened at the memorial service is truly disgraceful thing to see -- it should not happen at all."
Many others voiced their concern on Twitter, SBS reported.
The Deaf Federation of South Africa is reviewing the interpreter's credentials, said Wilma Newhoudt, a deaf member of the South African Parliament.
