Nelson Mandela memorial
interpreter 'was a fake' Twitter Facebook Share Man who provided sign language interpretation on
stage for Nelson Mandela's memorial service,
attended by scores of heads of state, was simply
"making childish hand gestures" for hours A mystery South African man who acted as a sign-
language interpreter at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service was a “fraud” who simply made “childish hand
gestures” for hours as he stood on stage. Deaf groups say the man, who has not yet been
identified, made no sense in any language to those
relying on him around the world, and did not seem to
know the recognised signs for South Africa, Mr Mandela’s clan name Madiba, President Jacob Zuma
or former President Thabo Mbeki. RELATED ARTICLES The delight of a good hoax is in getting away with
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Schmidt? As a result, they say, he had the effect of
marginalising the deaf community, which was
“contrary to everything Mandela fought for”. The embarrassing revelation also raises questions
about the security at the landmark event, which was
attended by 91 heads of state and government
including Barack Obama and David Cameron. President Barack Obama stands next to the sign language interpreter after making his speech (AP) The interpreter, who wore the clearance pass of a
government official, stood just feet from Mr Obama
as he made his widely-praised speech, and also
interpreted for South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma,
who apparently faces such a high threat level that he
recently spent £12.4m on security upgrades to his private home. The latest embarrassment was compounded by the
news that Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s
house in Cape Town was burgled as he spoke at the
event. David Buxton, the CEO of the British Deaf
Association, called on the South African authorities to
“name and shame” the man who, he said, had acted
in a way that was “disrespectful and hurtful” to deaf
people around the world. You need to have the Adobe Flash Player to view this content. Please click here to continue. While some South Africans took to Twitter to claim
the man had been signing in a South African
language such as Xhosa or Zulu, Mr Buxton said he
was purely making “childish hand gestures and
clapping, it was as if he had never learn a word of
sign language in his life”. “It was hours of complete nonsense,” he said. “He is
clearly a fraud who wanted to stand on stage with big
and important people. It’s quite audacious if you think
about it,” he said. “It is incredibly disrespectful and hurtful to the deaf
community.” Bencie Woll, Professor of Sign Language and Deaf Studies at the University College London Mr Buxton said the man had provided sign language
for a speech for Mr Zuma at a military event last
year. At that appearance, a deaf person in the
audience videotaped the event and gave it to the
federation for the deaf, which analysed the video,
prepared a report about it and submitted a formal complaint to the African National Congress (ANC). Sign language experts in South Africa said that all of
the country’s 11 official languages were covered by
the same signs, and they saw none of them used, nor
any of the facial gestures that usually feature. Ingrid Parkin, principal of the St Vincent School for
the Deaf in Johannesburg, said she had received
complaints from deaf people from around the world
about the “gibberish” interpretation. “This man himself knows he cannot sign and he had
the guts to stand on an international stage and do
that,” she said. You need to have the Adobe Flash Player to view this content. Please click here to continue. A sign language instructor at the
University of the Free State, said a simple phone call
to DeafSA would have prevented the spectacle,
which marginalised deaf viewers and was “contrary to
everything Mandela fought for”. It remains unclear whether the man was sourced by
the government which organised the event, the ruling
ANC or the national broadcaster the SABC. The government said it was still looking into how the
man was recruited. The SABC could not be reached
for comment. newhoudt wilma newhoudt Shame on this male so called interpreter on the stage. What is he
signing? He knows that the deaf cannot vocally boo him off.
Shame on him ! About one day ago via Twitter for iPhone Favorite Retweet Reply The ANC confirmed it had used him “as a volunteer”
at several events previously, including its centenary
celebrations in Bloemfontein last year. “We’ve never had any complaints before,” spokesman
Keith Khoza said. But Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen, an ANC MP and the
vice-chairperson of the Deaf Federation of SA
(DeafSA), told the City Press newspaper that the
DeafSA had submitted a report about the man to the
party in 2012 but received no response. “When a deaf person complains, nobody listens,” said
Newhoudt-Druchen.