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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/12/world/africa/interpreter-at-mandela-service-said-to-be-an-imposter.html
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| Interpreter at Mandela Service Said to Be an Imposter | Interpreter at Mandela Service Said to Be an Imposter |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| QUNU, South Africa — The man responsible for providing sign language interpretation at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service on Tuesday was a fraud, according to DeafSA, a deaf advocacy organization based in Johannesburg. | QUNU, South Africa — The man responsible for providing sign language interpretation at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service on Tuesday was a fraud, according to DeafSA, a deaf advocacy organization based in Johannesburg. |
| In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the group said that the “deaf community is in outrage.” | |
| The man, who was not identified, was part of the television coverage viewed around the world, standing next to a procession of leaders including President Obama who eulogized Mr. Mandela at an enormous soccer stadium in Soweto. | |
| “The organizers of the memorial service, and indeed any event, should have contacted organizations who coordinate South African Sign Language interpreting services to secure a professional, trained, experienced interpreter,” said the statement by the group’s national director, Bruno Druchen. | |
| The uproar over the sign-language interpreter compounded the perception of disorganization and sloppiness surrounding the memorial service. Many South Africans who wanted to attend complained that public transportation had failed, with buses that never arrived. | |
| Further fouling the aftermath of Mr. Mandela’s death was the news on Wednesday that burglars had broken into the Cape Town home of another revered figure in South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle, Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, while he was attending the memorial service. | |
| The DeafSA statement questioned the sign-language interpreter’s validity for several reasons. | |
| For one, he was using self-invented signs, according to the statement. He did not, for instance, use the established signs for Mr. Mandela or President Jacob Zuma. His hand shapes were meaningless, the statement said, and he failed to use facial expressions, an important part of South African sign language. | |
| “It is a total mockery of the language,” the statement said. | |
| “This proves that he is not involved in the Deaf community and doesn’t know South African Sign Language.” | “This proves that he is not involved in the Deaf community and doesn’t know South African Sign Language.” |
| A spokesman for Mr. Zuma did not immediately return a call for comment. | A spokesman for Mr. Zuma did not immediately return a call for comment. |
| DeafSA said the man appeared at an event for the African National Congress last year, and the group filed a complaint based on his work, according to The Associated Press. | DeafSA said the man appeared at an event for the African National Congress last year, and the group filed a complaint based on his work, according to The Associated Press. |