Tag Archives: Nelson Mandela

Many people, including the national director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa and the vice president of the World Federation of the Deaf are saying the sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service was faking it. The Associated Press reports three sign language experts say the man was not signing in South African or American sign languages. Leigh Scheps has the story.

‘My goatee is long’

The man who stood beside world dignitaries and friends and family of Nelson Mandela during a memorial service in Johannesburg was faking it, according to a sign language expert.

“He didn’t have any lip pattern. There was no talking through what he was listening to, to be able to back up with the signs,” says Rachel Hubbard from Deaf Umbrella.

She also noticed the interpreter’s gaze wandered around the stadium during his translation.

“Usually when you’re signing you’re actually thinking about the translation process and the linguistic changeover. So you would either be looking straight ahead of you, or perhaps slightly down, so you’re concentrating on what you have to interpret,” she said.

The other giveaway signs were his incoherent hand gestures, blank facial expression and his body language. The unidentified man signed for deaf viewers for large portions of the service honouring the former South African president, including during US President Barack Obama’s eulogy.