Thamsanqa Jantjie speaks sign language with his peers but wasn't a professional. Official: Signer's company 'vanished'

A South African government official told reporters Thursday that the owners of the company that provided the interpreter for Nelson Mandela’s memorial service have “vanished into thin air.”

“They’ve vanished, we’ve managed to get ahold of them and then we spoke to them wanting some answers and they vanished into thin air,” said Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, South African deputy minister of women, children and people with disabilities.


Bogopane-Zulu said the company, SA Interpreters, has provided substandard services for many years, but it went unnoticed until Tuesday’s memorial service.

“It looks like they have been cheating all along,” she said.

Questions regarding the interpreter were first raised by the director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa, who said the interpreter was a “fake.”

Bogopane-Zulu said the interpreter, identified as Thamsanqa Jantjie, speaks sign language with his peers but is not a professional interpreter.

Questions regarding interviews Jantjie gave Thursday, in which he said he suffered from schizophrenia and had a violent past, were not raised during the briefing.

Instead, Bogopane-Zulu attributed Jantjie’s gestures to various other reasons, saying he became overwhelmed, was tired and lost concentration, and “the English was a bit too much for him.”

Also not addressed was how Jantjie, with his history, was in a position to stand so close to world leaders, including President Barack Obama. Bogopane-Zulu said the government is in the process of checking into his vetting for security clearance but added that the interpreter was accredited and “didn’t just walk through.”

Despite the vast outcry for this oversight, Bogopane-Zulu dismissed any government wrongdoing.

“I don’t think we should be embarrassed because as a country a mistake happened while we were trying,” she said.

According to Bogopane-Zulu, sign language interpreters in South Africa normally are paid the equivalent of $125 to $165 an hour, but Jantjie gets only $78 a day. She noted someone handling for hiring might have looked only at the cheapest quote, rather than the interpreter's skill level.

In addition to dismissing any embarrassment, Bogopane-Zulu said it serves as a reminder of what the deaf community goes through every day.

“Once again, President Mandela lived beyond his grave to actually remind all of us that as we communicate and as we speak, there are those that we exclude every single day,” Bogopane-Zulu said.

This article tagged under: Nelson Mandela

Thamsanqa Jantjie