NO EVADING RESPONSIBILITY FOR SIGN LANGUAGE BLUNDER

Who could have guessed that he would be at the centre of possibly the biggest scandal to emerge from and already “boo-tainted” ceremony? Thansanqa Jantjie dubbed “the fake interpreter” was blasted by Disable People SA as a fake. The S African Translators’ institute former President also complained to the ANC after Mangaung. He said: “The ANC did not do anything.” However the controversy turned quickly from a dark comedy to tragedy when Jantjie revealed to the press that he is not only a diagnosed schizophrenic, but suffered an episode during the memorial that interfered with his work. His credentials were already under question, with various bodies claiming that he was not registered and was thus unqualified. He should never be discriminated against because of his illness; however, he should not have been on stage. In an interview with the Associated Press, he said that his hallucinations had caused him to act violently before. “What happened that day, I see Angels come to the stadium…I start realizing that the problem is here. And the problem, I don’t know the attack of this problem and how will it come. Sometimes I react violent on that place. Sometimes I will see things that chase me,” Jantjie said. According to Deputy Minister for women, children and people with disabilities, an investigation is underway to determine how a man with dodgy credentials got hired for the job. There was another revelation at the press conference: The Company that Jantjie works for quoted 800 an hour for the job, though the going rate for an interpreter is 1300.00 an hour. The company that Jantjie claims to work for, which apparently has his credentials, cannot be found. The ANC has also denied any involvement in the decision to hire him, in spite of the fact that he has been spotted at many of the party’s events. To add icing on this palatable cake, Jantjie claims to have obtained his sign language qualification from the University of Tecturers in the UK, but an internet search has shown that a university with that name does not exist. With denials raining in from all quarters, we might have a repeat of the Waterkloof/Gupta scandal, in which something undeniably wrong took place with nobody stepping forward to claim responsibility. Someone is responsible for this cock-up – question is WHO? The people who made the decision to hire him should answer for it. I’m afraid it’s not good enough for Deputy Minister to shrug and say, “Well, someone in the stadium understood him and in any case, it wasn’t even that embarrassing.” IT WAS AND THE MINISTER SHOULD BE ASHAMED!!!