Man who faked sign language at Mandela memorial has faced murder, other charges

[IDemo]

Source: Washington Post

JOHANNESBURG — The sign language interpreter who gestured meaninglessly at the Nelson Mandela memorial in South Africa on Tuesday has faced charges of murder, rape, theft, breaking and entering, malicious damage to property and kidnapping, according to eNCA.com.

The South African news site said the outcome of the murder charge against Thamsanqa Jantjie, brought in 2003, was unknown because the court case file is “mysteriously empty.”

Many of the other charges against Jantjie, dating back to 1994, were eventually dropped, eNCA reported, because he was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial. Jantjie was acquitted in the rape case.

But the independent news site said Jantjie was convicted of theft in a 1995 case and sentenced to three years in prison, although it is not clear whether he ever served any of that time.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/man-who-faked-sign-language-at-mandela-memorial-has-faced-murder-other-charges/2013/12/13/98d2d992-6402-11e3-aa81-e1dab1360323_story.html

[MADem]

1. I'll tell ya--this is some terrifying shit.

All the world leaders there, and this guy, unvetted, is two feet from them.

EVERY picture of every speaker has this assclown in it.

No wonder the ballistic clothing market is such a growth industry.

[Jesus Malverde]

12. This is really amazing, the secret service has let down Obama time and time again.

Outsourcing the vetting and security of the President of the United States to an African country is insane.

The secret service should have it's own sign language interpreter who packs a gun and stands next to the president.

This whole situation is disturbing.

It sounds to me like nothing more than fraud, from a sham company who sent a clown.

However it could have been much worse.

[MADem]

19. Yeah, remember that dipshit with the grenade who almost got Porgie?

That was over in Georgia....the guy is doing a life stretch...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Arutyunian

[onehandle]

2. Three feet from the President. Multiple people are going to get fired. nt

[laundry_queen]

6. It's an unbelievable failure of security. nt

[big_dog]

22. more than just a few are gonna get shit canned

n/t

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

3. This is inexcusable,

heads need to roll!!

[duffyduff]

4. Scary, scary, scary. n/t

[jsr]

5. Damn.

[shanti]

7. Friends in high places

it seems...wow.

[LuckyLib]

8. Americans are way too trusting. Security at this event was non-existent. The sooner the US figures

out you have to do it yourself the better. Obama will need to bring his own ASL interpreter for public speeches -- something the Secret Service should have figured out long ago.

[Jesus Malverde]

17. Why isn't the ALS interpreter also an agent...

It's a no brainer...

[quakerboy]

21. Because it wasn't the presidents event?

Because it was a South African event, attended by international figures including the president. Why would the US presume to be running the show?

Kinda like going to a friends grandmothers funeral and bringing your own pallbearers.

[IDemo]

9. If only he'd had a cell phone or a World of Warcraft user ID...

[grantcart]

10. lol

Al Queda is flooding sign language schools with applicants.

[VanillaRhapsody]

26. okay that busted me

[Kelvin Mace]

11. Boy, the Secret Service is on the ball these days

[Jesus Malverde]

13. Did anyone catch how this broke?

Who called BS on his translation first?

[IDemo]

15. These pretenders are easy to catch:

[Jesus Malverde]

16. That was unexpected!...

[MADem]

20. He only interprets for the "hard of hearing"--and as someone who is schooled in that method,

let me tell you, it works!

It's not as easy as it looks, though--it can get exhausting!

[csziggy]

23. One of the people in the South African sign language community

Tried to do something during the ceremony, according to what I read yesterday:

Yet the man, not only seen by the tens of thousands in Johannesburg’s FNB stadium where the memorial took place on Tuesday, but also by millions across the world on television, was a “fake”, according to Bruno Druchen, the national director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa.

Mr Duchen told the Associated Press “there was no meaning in what he used his hands for”. He and other language experts pointed out that the man was not signing in South African or American sign languages and could not have been signing in any other known sign language because there was no structure to his arm and hand movements. South African sign language covers all of the country’s 11 official languages.

Amjad Shaikh, a supporter of the ruling ANC party who studied sign language as a boy, said he tried to contact the organisers of the memorial after seeing the man on television. “What this man was doing was making no sense,” he said.

Mr Sheikh said at first he thought the man may have been using “a foreign system” of sign language that he did not understand, but having asked around, he discovered “no one knew anything about it”.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/nelson-mandela-memorial-bogus-interpreter-made-mockery-of-barack-obamas-tribute-8997486.html

[Jesus Malverde]

24. so strange, thanks!..nt

[get the red out]

14. Strange

This is one of the strangest things that I have ever seen on a world stage. Bizarre.

[closeupready]

18. You know, I'm just a grunt, but even I have more self-respect

in terms of how I perform my work than it seems many in the SS do these days.

Embarrassing, amateurish, irresponsible.

[TheDebbieDee]

25. BAM! This hand-waving funeral crasher made the Salahi's look like rank amateurs!

This yahoo performed before several heads-of-state along with a viewing audience of BILLIONS! He really makes the Salahis crashing of a US state dinner look LAME!

ETA: This man must have HUGE, BRASS BAAAAAAALLS..........

[VanillaRhapsody]

27. I just remembered them right before I read your post....

this definitely IS an outrage...multiple heads should roll. What's he gotta do...outsource their jobs to Blackwater/Xe? Sheesh!

[tblue37]

28. Wanna bet the guy has powerful, highly placed relatives in the South African government? nt