Interpreter at event is called fake

Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG

As one world leader after another paid homage to Nelson Mandela at a memorial service, the man standing at arm’s length from them appeared to interpret their words in sign language. But advocates for the deaf say he was a faker.

The incident, which outraged deaf people and sign-language interpreters watching the service broadcast around the globe, raised questions of how the unidentified man managed to crash a supposedly secure event attended by scores of heads of state, including President Barack Obama.

It also was another example of the problems plaguing Tuesday’s memorial, including public transportation breakdowns and a faulty audio system.

The man, who stood about a yard from Obama and other leaders, “was moving his hands around, but there was no meaning in what he used his hands for,” Bruno Druchen, national director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.