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Interpreter at Mandela Service Said to Be an Imposter Interpreter at Mandela Service Said to Be an Impostor
(about 5 hours 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 — He stood with a deadpan expression just inches from President Obama and other world leaders speaking at Nelson Mandela’s memorial, dressed in a dark suit and blue security lanyard with the words “state funeral,” draped around his neck, flapping his arms and gesticulating in what was supposed to be sign language for the hearing-impaired.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the group said that the “deaf community is in outrage.” The man was a fraud, sign-language experts said Wednesday, expressing outrage that an impostor who clearly was illiterate in the linguistic skills of signing could have pulled off such a stunt. He was a constant presence on the stage of the memorial on Tuesday, watched not only by the audience in the 93,000 seat soccer stadium in Soweto but by hundreds of millions on television.
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. More than 24 hours later, the South African government was still at a loss to explain how the impostor, whose identity remained a mystery, had not only breached security checks but even got the sign-language job.
“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. “This ‘fake interpreter’ has made a mockery of South African Sign Language and has disgraced the South African Sign Language interpreting profession,” said Bruno Druchen, the national director of DeafSA, an advocacy organization for the hearing-impaired in Johannesburg. In a statement posted on its Facebook page, Mr. Druchen said that the “deaf community is in outrage.”
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. The national embarrassment over the fraudulent interpreter was only one of a number of things that seemed to go wrong in the government’s organization and management of the memorial event, adding to the perception of sloppiness and haste in preparations following Mr. Mandela’s death last week. Many South Africans who had wanted to go complained that public transportation had failed, with buses that never arrived.
Further fouling the aftermath of Mr. Mandela’s death was the news reported 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. The Cape Times newspaper said the burglary took place while he was attending the memorial service.Further fouling the aftermath of Mr. Mandela’s death was the news reported 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. The Cape Times newspaper said the burglary took place while he was attending the memorial service.
The DeafSA statement questioned the sign-language interpreter’s validity for several reasons. Mr. Druchen’s statement punched many holes in the sign-language interpreter’s credibility.
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. He did not, for instance, use the established signs for Mr. Mandela or President Jacob Zuma. His hand shapes were meaningless. He failed to use facial expressions, head movement, shoulder-raising and other body language that are integral elements of signing.
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“It is a total mockery of the language,” the statement said.“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.”
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.