Thamsanqa Jantjie: Nelson Mandela’s memorial interpreter admitted to psychiatric hospital

Thamsanqa Jantjie, the sign interpreter at Nelson Mandela’s memorial who is accused of making up gestures, has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital, local media report.

Thamsanqa Jantjie “might have had a breakdown”, his wife Siziwe is quoted as saying.

Sign language experts accused Thamsanqa Jantjie of referring to “prawns” and “rocking horses” while translating eulogies at Nelson Mandela’s memorial last week.

Thamsanqa Jantjie said he suffered a sudden attack of schizophrenia.

He insisted he was a qualified interpreter.

South Africa’s Deputy Disability Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu has said the company which had employed him had “vanished”.

Thamsanqa Jantjie’s wife took him to a psychiatric hospital near Johannesburg for a check-up on Tuesday, and it was suggested that he be admitted immediately, Johannesburg’s The Star newspaper reports.

“The past few days have been hard. We have been supportive because he might have had a breakdown,” Siziwe Jantjie is quoted as saying.

Last week, Thamsanqa Jantjie said he was supposed to have gone for a check-up on the day of the memorial, but he postponed it.

During the memorial at Johannesburg’s FNB stadium, which was broadcast live around the world, Thamsanqa Jantjie stood on the stage next to key speakers including President Barack Obama, South African President Jacob Zuma and Nelson Mandela’s grandchildren, translating their eulogies.

Thamsanqa Jantjie blamed his flawed interpretation on a schizophrenic episode, saying he had seen angels coming into the stadium.

The White House has downplayed fears that he was a security risk to President Obama.

Sign language experts said Thamsanqa Jantjie had made “funny gestures” and little more than “flapping his arms around”.

The governing African National Congress (ANC) said it had used Thamsanqa Jantjie as an interpreter several times before, and “had not been aware of any of complaints regarding the quality of services, qualifications or reported illnesses” of the interpreter.