"Fake" sign language interpreter at Mandela memorial speaks out; suffers from schizophrenia

Dec. 12 (UPI) -- The sign language interpreter from Nelson Mandela's Tuesday memorial service was widely ridiculed in the days following as a fake for his incoherent and extraneous hand gestures during the four hour service -- but now he's speaking out and defending his signing ability.

In an interview with CNN affiliate Radio 702 in Johannesburg, Thamsanqa Jantjie insisted he is qualified and experienced. He told the interviewer "if I was interpreting wrong through these years, why should it become an issue now? It's one of the questions I've never ever gotten an answer for."

When asked whether he could confirm media reports that he heard voices and hallucinated during the Mandela memorial service, Jantjie responded that he is a "patient receiving a treatment in schizophrenia."

He said he was hired for the high profile Mandela memorial by SA Interpreters, which was hired by the African National Congress.

Bruno Druchen, the national director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa considers Jantjie a "fake interpreter," and cited Jantjie's meaningless hand signals and lack of facial expression. "It's a total mockery of the language."

[CNN]