Mandela Memorial Service Signer: Schizonphrenic Man Accused of Burning Two Men to Death in 2003
The man who faked sign language at Nelson Mandela's memorial service is again under fire after, believe it or not, reportedly taking part in setting two men on fire.
Associated Press reports that various sources say that Thamsanqa Jantjie was was part of a group who allegedly found two men who stole a television back in 2003 and subsequently set them on fire, killing them. Jantjie reportely never went to trial for the incident, however, because he was not mentally fit enough. The other four suspects, on the other hand, said they did see trial in 2006. They revealed this information anonymously, but the story aligns with Jantjie's account of his past.
"It was a community thing, what you call mob justice, and I was also there," Jantjie said in an interview with Johannesbug's Sunday Timesnewspaper.
Instead of going to trial, Jantjie's alleged partners in crime say he was institutionalized for over a year before returning to his neighborhood which lies outside of Soweto. Last week, Jantjie told AP that he suffered from schizophrenia and was institutionalized for the disease for 19 months, part of the stay taking place in 2006. He also told AP that his past included him being violent "a lot."
During Mandela's Memorial service, Jantjie made up his own signs instead of practicing true sign language. He said that he during the ceremony, he saw angels. South African officials are now trying to figure out who hired Jantjie and how he got clearance into the service.
"We will follow up the reported correspondence that has supposedly been sent to us in this regard and where necessary act on it," the ANC said in a statement last week.
Jantije claims he studied sign language at the University of Tecturers in Britain, Johannesburg's Star newspaper reports. A British charity that gives qualifications for dead and deaf-blind communications techniques, however, told AP that they never head of University of Tecturers.