The Guardian reports that Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, the South African deputy minister for women, children and people with disabilities, said it was a mistake to hire Thamsanqa Jantjie but denied he is a fraud.

The Deaf Federation of South Africa said that the sign-language interpreter on stage during a memorial service for Nelson Mandela was a "fake."

The Star reported that Jantjie takes medication for his schizophrenia, was "medically boarded" a few years ago and that he relies on a social grant now.

In an interview with South African paperJantjie claimed he was suffering from a schizophrenic episode during the memorial.

"There was nothing I could do. I was alone in a very dangerous situation. I tried to control myself and not show the world what was going on. I am very sorry, it's the situation I found myself in."Life is unfair. This illness is unfair. Anyone who doesn't understand this illness will think that I'm just making this up."

Jantjie said he works for a company called SA Interpreters and was paid for the event. There are now reports that the owners of SA Interpreters have "vanished."

"What happened that day, I see angels come to the stadium ... I start realizing that the problem is here. And the problem, I don't know the attack of this problem, how will it come. Sometimes I get violent on that place. Sometimes I will see things chasing me."

"I had a breakdown when I see angels come from sky to the ground."

However, Jantjie has also defended his interpreting at the memorial in an interview with 702 Talk Radio, contradicting his other statements, and calling himself a "champion of sign language."

In the interview, Jantjie said he is "absolutely" happy with his performance.

Jantjie said he was "sad" about the controversy and asked: "If my interpreting was not right in all these years, why should it be an issue now?"

When asked directly about his "schizophrenic episode" Jantijie said he "wouldn't feel comfortable to talk about it on the media, it's not a thing I was referring to the media."

He did go on to say that the real issue he wanted to focus on was the claim he "interpreted wrong," saying: "If I then interpreted wrong, why is it an issue now?" He went on to note that his interpretations were not an issue when he interpreted "many big events in South Africa."

When asked again about his schziophrenia, he said: "I wouldn't like to discuss my mental status on the media" but confirmed that he is "currently a patient" and "receiving treatment" for schizophrenia.

He also confirmed he is a "senior interpreter" for the company SA Interpreters.