‘Fake’ Sign Language Interpreter At Mandela’s Memorial Says He Is Schizophrenic

Thamsanqa Jantjie, who was accused of being an imposter after it was revealed that his sign language interpretation at the memorial service of Nelson Mandela had been no more than a series of nonsense gestures, defended himself in an interview with South Africa's IOL News, saying he suffered a schizophrenic episode during the memorial. Jantjie, who appeared on stage beside a host of world leaders as they delivered their farewell remarks to Mandela, told the paper that in the midst of translating, he suddenly lost concentration and began to hear voices and hallucinate.

"There was nothing I could do. I was alone in a very dangerous situation. 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." Jantjie added that in spite of the voices and hallucinations, which kept him from hearing and accurately interpreting what was being said by the dignitaries who spoke at the memorial, he couldn't simply leave, so he remained on stage signing things that didn't make sense. "Life is unfair. This illness is unfair. Anyone who doesn't understand this illness will think that I'm just making this up," he said.

34-year-old Jantjie, who was blasted by advocates for the deaf and on social media after it was revealed that what he was signing made no sense, said the company he works for, SA Interpreters, had informed him on Monday that he would be interpreting at the memorial service. He said he'd felt honored to be able to play a part in the historic event, and that he was set to be compensated R850 (about $81 USD) for the day's work.

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