曼德拉追悼会惊现“假翻译” 辩称精神分裂导致失态_BEC初级作文

曼德拉追悼会惊现“假翻译” 辩称精神分裂导致失态

He made waves with his arms, touched his forehead and reached out with an embracing motion. And as the official interpreter for the deaf watching the Nelson Mandela memorial event Tuesday, he stood right behind the world’s most powerful leaders, including President Obama.

And he was a fake, advocates for the deaf say.

Web sites and radio shows here were flooded with condemnations of the African National Congress-led government and the organizers of the memorial at FNB Stadium in Soweto for failing to figure out whether the man was simply waving his arms around.

“Please get RID of this CLOWN interpreter, please!” Bruno Peter Druchen, head of the Deaf Federation of South Africa, tweeted during the memorial.

曼德拉追悼会惊现“假翻译” 辩称精神分裂导致失态1

“ANC linked interpreter on stage is causing embarrassment amongst deaf ANC supporters. Please get him off,” added Wilma Newhoudt, a deaf member of the South African Parliament and vice president of the World Federation of the Deaf.

But the man remained on stage, and on Wednesday, his performance became the focus of a new storm of criticism. People who phoned an afternoon radio call-in show said the situation showed inept hiring, insensitivity to the deaf and a serious security lapse on the part of event organizers. And, they said, it marred the solemn event by distracting attention from Mandela and the world leaders who came to pay tribute to him.

On Thursday, the Johannesburg Star reported that the man, Thamsanqa Jantjie, said in an interview that he was suffering from schizophrenia and that he had lost concentration and started hearing voices during the event. He said that made it hard to hear the speeches and interpret but that he couldn’t just leave so he stayed on. “There was nothing I could do. I was alone in a very dangerous situation. I tried to control myself and not show the world what was going on. I am very sorry, it’s the situation I found myself in,” Jantjie, 34, told the Star.