South Africa hunts for mystery Mandela mimer

[PoliticAverse]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A fake sign language interpreter took to the stage during a mass memorial for anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, gesticulating gibberish before a global audience of millions and outraging deaf people across the world.

DeafSA, South Africa's leading deaf association, condemned the presence of the unknown man at the memorial, which was attended by President Jacob Zuma and scores of world leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama.

While dignitaries were addressing the crowd in the 95,000-seat Soccer City stadium, the young, suited man with an official security pass round his neck produced a series of hand signals that experts said meant absolutely nothing.

Besides the bizarre twist to an event that also saw Zuma booed and jeered, the man's presence on the stage within yards of Obama and Brazil's Dilma Rousseff raised awkward security questions.

Read the rest at: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/fake-39-signer-39-mandela-memorial-outrages-deaf-121120601.html

[Phentex]

1. I thought something was odd when I was watching...

I don't know sign language but I remember thinking his gestures seemed way overdone. His hands kept moving really far apart, almost waving. And he didn't have the usual concentrated look that interpreters have.

How very strange!

[PoliticAverse]

2. Some pictures and a video of the incident...

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/sign-language-interpreter-at-nelson-mandelas-memorial-was-a-fake-who-made-up-his-own-hand-gestures-8997189.html

[LadyHawkAZ]

3. Wasn't he also on stage signing when Mlangeni was speaking?

I went to bed not long after, but it seems like he was doing the same thing during that speech. I remember wondering why they had two sign language interpreters.

[PoliticAverse]

4. Interpreter at Mandela event: I was hallucinating

JOHANNESBURG (AP) - 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 saw "angels" at the event, has been violent in the past and suffers from schizophrenia.

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 year.

Jantjie, who stood gesticulating three-feet (1 meter) from Obama and others who spoke at Tuesday's ceremony that was broadcast around the world, insisted that he was doing proper sign-language interpretation of the speeches of world leaders.

But he also apologized for his performance that has been dismissed by many sign-language experts as gibberish.

Read the rest at: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20131212/DAAKPE1G0.html