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The Telegraph reported that the (then unidentified) man who attempted to provide sign translations at Nelson Mandela's funeral was a fake:

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”.

He was later identified as Thamsanqa Jantjie, and he was confirmed as accredited by the South African government, but claimed he had a schizophrenic episode at the time. (For example NBN News)

Has Thamsanqa Jantjie demonstrated he can translate sign language before?

rjzii
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I can find no press reports of Thamsanqa Jantjie performing satisfactorily as a sign-language interpreter.

There are reports that suggest his incomprehensible performance was not an isolated incident.

US broadcaster CBS News’ archival footage of a press conference on June 24 shows Jantjies did the same thing during an international press briefing given by President Jacob Zuma.

It was two weeks after Mandela was hospitalised and shortly before US President Barack Obama arrived in South Africa.

I asked Zuma: “Nelson Mandela is critically ill at a time when US President Barack Obama is due to visit South Africa. Should he cancel his trip?”

Expert sign language interpreter Pholoho Selebano revealed he interpreted the question as: “Toilet! Toilet! Union! Forehead!”

He said he saw “angels” during Mandela’s memorial. I wonder what he saw six months before?

– Debora Patta

reported by City Press a South African Sunday newspaper.

The Deaf Federation of South Africa said on Wednesday that it had submitted a formal complaint to the ANC about Jantjie’s interpretation after an event in 2012.

NBC News

There are several sign-languages used in South Africa, but the one most likely to be used at official events may be South African Sign Language (SASL), which probably has more in common with British Sign Language (BSL) than with American Sign Language (ASL). This might partly explain why some ASL experts are so baffled by what they saw. It doesn't explain why many South Africans believe Thamsanqa Jantjie's sign language is incomprehensible or nonsense.

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RedGrittyBrick
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    How in the earth someone as incompetent as that guy got the job? Affirmative action? –  Jan 30 '18 at 01:32