A man who appeared to provide sign language interpretation on stage for Nelson Mandela's memorial service, attended by scores of heads of state, was a "fake," the national director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa said on Wednesday.
Four sign language experts said the unidentified man signing at the Nelson Mandela memorial service on Tuesday was not signing in South African or American sign languages, the Associated Press reported.
Standing next to leaders including President Barack Obama, the man "was moving his hands around but there was no meaning in what he used his hands for," Bruno Druchen, the federation's national director, told the AP.
South African sign language covers all of the country's 11 official languages, according to the federation. It's not known whether the man was using a different method to communicate. The government is investigating the matter and will soon release a statement, said Collins Chabane, one of South Africa's two presidency ministers.
The man could not have been signing in any other known sign language because there was no structure to his arm and hand movements, Druchen said.
Ingrid Parkin, principal of the St. Vincent School for the Deaf in Johannesburg, said she's received complaints from the deaf community from Canada to China about the man on stage and that his movements look "like he's signing gibberish." He also used no facial expression to convey the emotions of the leaders, a key element of sign language interpretation, the AP reported.
"This man himself knows he cannot sign and he had the guts to stand on an international stage and do that," Parkin said.
Nicole Du Toit, an official sign language interpreter, said in a telephone interview the man on stage purporting to sign was an embarrassment.
"It was horrible, an absolute circus, really, really bad," Du Toit said. "Only he can understand those gestures."
Druchen said a complaint will be filed to the ANC about the interpreter he called a "fake" with a demand for an urgent meeting.
"We want to make a statement that this is a warning to other sign language interpreters who are fake and go about interpreting," Druchen said. "I am hoping the South African government will take notice of this."
