The man accused of faking sign language interpretation at Nelson Mandela's memorial has said he was suffering from hallucinations at the time. South African minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu said an investigation was underway into the incident.
A sign language interpreter "made up his own signs" at Nelson Mandela's memorial yesterday, South Africa's deaf federation said.
Braam Jordaan, of the World Deaf Federation, told SBS website: "I was really upset and humiliated. He made up his own signs. What happened at the memorial service is truly disgraceful thing to see, it should not happen at all.
"What happened today will be forever aligned with Nelson Mandela & Deaf Community, thanks to this fake interpreter."
Cara Loening, director of Sign Language Education and Development in Cape Town, added: "He's a complete fraud. He wasn't even doing anything, There was not one sign there. Nothing. He was literally flapping his arms around."
Having just met the sign language interpreter from Mandela's memorial, his explanation that he had a schizophrenic attack seems plausible.
Deaf organisations have complained after the man translating the speeches at Nelson Mandela's memorial service 'signed gibberish'.