RIDICULOUS

Mandela Memorial Interpreter Fake

Accused of using “made-up signs.”

We can think of a couple hand gestures for him. The sign language interpreter at Tuesday’s memorial service for Nelson Mandela was apparently a fake, according to a South African official. The man, who worked alongside world leaders including President Obama, "was moving his hands around but there was no meaning in what he used his hands for,” says Bruno Druchen, the director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa. The AP reported that three sign language experts said the interpreter was not signing in either South African or American sign languages. Throughout the service, deaf users of Twitter took to the social networking site to call out the fraud, including Wilma Newhoudt, a deaf member of South Africa’s parliament tweeting, “the so-called interpreter on the stage with Cde Cyril is not signing. He's just making up.”