Cousin outside signer's house; Spox for Ministry of Arts and Culture apologises скачать в хорошем качестве

Cousin outside signer's house; Spox for Ministry of Arts and Culture apologises

(13 Dec 2013) Supporters of a controversial sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial rallied outside his house in Soweto on Friday as government officials gave further information on an investigation into his appointment. Officials said the government is looking into how Thamsanqa Jantjie was selected to interpret at the memorial on Tuesday, after revelations his signs were gibberish and local media reported that he once faced a murder charge. In an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday, Jantjie also said he began hallucinating while onstage and claimed he suffered from schizophrenia. The incident, which outraged deaf people and sign-language interpreters watching the service broadcast around the globe, raised questions of how Jantjie managed to crash a supposedly secure event attended by scores of heads of state, including US President Barack Obama. Crowds were singing and dancing outside his home in Soweto on Friday. "He is a member of our society, he is an active member of our society. Let us give him support," said one man. However the South African Department of Arts and Culture welcomed the the investigation and called for a fast-tracking of the South African Language Practitioners bill which calls for more stringent regulation and training for language services. The Department's spokesman Mogomotsi Mogodiri said those responsible must apologise for the error. "The reputation of our country has been affected internationally and it's very difficult to rebuild credibility and reputation unless people, firstly, admit that something went wrong, but also take practical steps to correct what went wrong," he said. Government spokeswoman Phumla Williams said the investigation is ongoing and promised an official report once completed. "It is not an investigation for the sake of investigation, it is an investigation to establish what really happened and how do we make sure that it doesn't happen again." She said the government wants to be "upfront" about the incident and ensure it is not repeated. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...