Sign Language Interpreter Thamsanqa Jantjie At Mandela Memorial: Good Job!
Dec 14, 2013 in International Topics, We Think So
To us, this incident is as hilarious as a scene from a 1930s Marx Brothers’ comedy movie featuring Harpo Marx. Finally, an interpreter who tells the truth. Many people are outraged by the actions of Thamsanqa Jantjie. People, deaf people in particular, are signing, or saying, he is a fake and a phony. We think Thamsanqa Jantjie was the only honest person on the podium in the Soweto stadium!
“Perhaps Mr. Jantjie does have some form of genuine mental infirmity. Reports say he says he suffers from schizophrenia. He sees BS all around him. Clearly he’s not alone. “
In case you missed the controversy it surrounds one Thamsanqa Jantjie, a sign language interpreter hired by the South African government to interpret the speeches presented by the various South African and international dignitaries who delivered remarks at the memorial held in the stadium near Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa for the late Nelson Mandela.
Nelson R. Mandela, after spending more than twenty years in prison, jailed as a terrorist, following his release from confinement, Mandela became the first democratically elected black South African president. He died earlier in December 2013 at the age of 95 years.
It seems, according to the thus far official explanation provided by a female South African deputy Cabinet minister, Mr. Jantjie was hired through a cut-rate, “lie-by-day/fly-by-night” temporary employment agency; it seems one specializing in supplying personnel to interpret for the hearing impaired. Or, this is the cover story. (more…)