Fake Sign Language Interpreter at Nelson Mandela Memorial Provokes Anger

[gatagato]

Deaf people watching the Nelson Mandela memorial were bemused and shocked by a "fake" sign language interpreter on stage whose gestures were unintelligible, activists said Wednesday.
The interpreter was watched by millions as he stood beside speakers at the event including President Barack Obama.
Hundreds of people took to social media to express their anger at the interpreter's gestures, and several deaf groups confirmed his signing did not reflect the comments being made to honor the anti-apartheid icon.

Paul Breckell, chief executive of the U.K.-based charity Action on Hearing Loss, said: "We are shocked by the quality of sign language interpretation at Nelson Mandela’s memorial -- if it could be called interpretation at all."

Advertise | AdChoicesHe added that "the limited number of signs, the amount of repetition, lack of facial expressions and huge gaps in translation meant that deaf or hard of hearing people across the world were completely excluded from one of the biggest events in recent history."

Among the first to express their dissatisfaction was Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen, the first deaf woman to be elected to the South African parliament, who tweeted that the signing was "rubbish," adding: "He cannot sign. Please get him off."

She took to the social media site several times during the day.

David Buxton, chief executive of the British Deaf Association, said in an email that "the gentleman is a total fake."

"He has no real clue about sign language and has obviously upset the deaf community of South Africa as we have received hundreds of angry messages via Facebook and Twitter," said Buxton, who was watching the ceremony with his South African-born wife.

Buxton called on the South African authorities to "name and shame that gentleman." He said the same interpreter had provided sign language for South African President Jacob Zuma’s speech at a military event last year.

The South African government said in a statement that it was "looking into this matter but has not been able to conclude this inquiry due to the demanding schedule" organizing the state funeral.

Braam Jordaan, a profoundly deaf South African citizen and board member of the World Federation of the Deaf Youth Section, explained why it had been so clear to sign language users that the interpretation was not correct.

He told NBC News in an email: "The structure of his hand, facial expressions and the body movements did not follow what the speaker was saying."

South African sign language interpreter Francois Deysel tweeted during the ceremony that the interpreter was "making a mockery of our profession."

Bruno Druchen, the national director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa, told The Associated Press that the interpreter on stage was a "fake."

The man "was moving his hands around but there was no meaning in what he used his hands for," Druchen added.

South African sign language covers all of the country's 11 official languages, according to the federation. It wasn't immediately clear if the unidentified man was using a different method to communicate.

Nicole Du Toit, an official sign language interpreter who also watched the broadcast, told The Associated Press that the man on stage purporting to sign was an embarrassment.

"It was horrible, an absolute circus, really really bad," she said. "Only he can understand those gestures."

Various video clips emerged appearing to show the same man signing at previous ANC events.

But ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said the interpreter was nothing to do with the political party.

Later Wednesday the party's communications manager Keith Khoza appeared to contradict this when he confirmed to NBC News that interpreter had translated for party events in the past, but only as an unpaid volunteer.

Khoza said the interpreter was employed by the South African government for the Mandela memorial event.

South Africa's Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane said the administration was looking into the incident.

"Government has noted concern expressed in some quarters about the alleged incorrect use of sign language in the national memorial service," he told a press briefing.

"Government is looking into this matter but has not been able to conclude this inquiry due to the demanding schedule of organizing events relating to the state funeral.

"Government will report publicly on information it establishes but wishes to assure South Africans that we are clear in defending the rights and dignity of people with disabilities."

Questioned about the obvious security issues related to having the fraudster so close to the president, the Secret Service released a statement saying: "Agreed upon security measures between the U.S. Secret Service and South African Government security officials were in place during the recent memorial service in Johannesburg. Program items such as stage participants or sign language interpreters were the responsibility of the host organizing committee."

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2...provokes-anger
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa...733698886.html

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Update:
Mandela 'fake' interpreter Thamsanqa Jantjie: I was hallucinating
Incident raises security questions for U.S. President Barack Obama and other speakers

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 one metre 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 a fake.

"I would like to tell everybody that if I've offended anyone, please, forgive me," Jantjie said in his concrete home in a low-income Johannesburg neighbourhood. "But what I was doing, I was doing what I believe is my calling, I was doing what I believe makes a difference."

The statements by Jantjie raise serious security issues for Obama, other heads of state and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who made speeches at FNB Stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg's black township. The ceremony honoured Mandela, the anti-apartheid icon and former president who died on Dec. 5.

"What happened that day, I see angels come to the stadium ... I start realizing that the problem is here. And the problem, I don't know the attack of this problem, how will it come. Sometimes I get violent on that place. Sometimes I will see things chasing me," Jantjie said.

"I was in a very difficult position," he added. "And remember those people, the president and everyone, they were armed, there was armed police around me. If I start panicking I'll start being a problem. I have to deal with this in a manner so that I mustn't embarrass my country."

Asked how often he had become violent, he said "a lot" while declining to provide details.
Due for mental-health checkup
Jantjie said he was due on the day of the ceremony to get a regular six-month mental health checkup to determine whether the medication he takes was working, whether it needed to be changed or whether he needed to be kept at a mental health facility for treatment.

He said he did not tell the company that contracted him for the event for about $85 US that he was due for the checkup, but said the owner of SA Interpreters in Johannesburg was aware of his condition.

AP journalists who visited the address of the company that Jantjie provided found a different company there where managers said they knew nothing about SA Interpreters. A woman answered the phone at a number that Jantjie provided and said it was not for the company, and another phone number went to a voicemail that did not identify the person or company with the number.

Jantjie said he received one year of sign language interpretation at a school in Cape Town, and insisted that he has previously interpreted at many events without anyone complaining.

The AP showed Jantjie video footage of him interpreting on stage at the Mandela memorial service.

"I don't remember any of this at all," he said.

[Faline]

[Sharon]

Bet his hallucinogenic moves were like these from The Inbetweeners movie, he ought to join them

[Faline]

Originally Posted by Sharon.

Bet his hallucinogenic moves were like these from The Inbetweeners movie, he ought to join them

I love that clip, that film and the Inbetweeners!

[kellyhound]

saw it on the news. hilarious

[turdburgler]

Turns out the guy is a nutcase. Robbery,murder, kidnapping, etc... Some speculate if he was there to assassinate someone. No one knows how he was out of prison, and how he get his record of the last couple years scrubbed enough to get in. Or even how the hell he got the job.

[Shakey]

Dat be handbonics.

[unicornranchhand]

I keep wondering if any of the necklacing pics or videos on here, are his handy work.

[durt]

He could have 'signed off' Obama if he wanted
.. or any other world leader!
major security fuck up