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"The man accused of faking sign language translations for more than three consecutive hours on stage at a memorial service for Nelson Mandela said he was hallucinating and that he suffers from schizophrenia.\nIn an interview with the Associated Press, Thamsanqa Jantjie said he saw angels entering the FNB stadium in Johannesburg where the service was held on Tuesday. He added that in the past, his schizophrenia has led him to violent actions. \nSee also: Dancing Through Tears, South Africa Bids Farewell to Mandela\nJantjie gesticulated emphatically during the speeches of U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders, seemingly translating their words into sign language for the deaf community. Following the memorial service, however, reports surfaced that Jantjie was not translating accurately at all.\n\n\"What happened that day, I see angels come to the stadium ... I start realizing that the problem is here,\" Jantjie told the AP. \"And the problem, I don't know the attack of this problem, how will it comes. Sometimes I react violent on that place. Sometimes I will see things that chase me.\"\nJantjie added that he wasn't quite sure how to deal with the problem once it started because of the magnitude of the situation. \"I was in a very difficult position,\" he said. \"And remember those people, the president and everyone, they were armed, there was armed police around me. If I start panicking I'll start being a problem. I have to deal with this in a manner so that I mustn't embarrass my country.\"\nHendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, South Africa's deputy minister of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, said hiring Jantjie was a mistake and that country's government has not been able to contact the owners of the company that provided the interpreter. During a news conference, she said that they had \"vanished into thin air.\"\nJantjie told the AP he has successfully worked as an interpreter at events in the past for a company called SA Interpreters, which based in Johannesburg, and that he was paid $85 for the Mandela service. The AP found no trace of SA Interpreters at the address and phone number Jantjie provided.\nOn the day of the memorial service, Jantjie was due for a biannual mental health checkup during which doctors would assess the effectiveness of his medication and decide whether or not he needed to stay in a mental health facility, according to Jantjie's comments to the AP. \nWhen Jantjie watched the video footage of himself \"signing\" at Mandela's memorial service, he claimed he had no memory of it occurring at all. He has since apologized for the incident and asked for forgiveness from anyone offended. \nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.\nImage: Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images\nBONUS: 10 Behind-the-Scenes Obama Photos\n\n\n10 Behind-the-Scenes Obama Photos\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFour Presidents\n\nIt's not often every single living president is in the same spot -- but they were for the dedication ceremony of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas this April.\nImage: Flickr, Pete Souza/The White House\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVisiting Petra\n\nPresident Barack Obama takes in the famous Treasury at Petra, Jordan. Look familiar? You may also recognize it from the third Indiana Jones film, you big nerd.\nImage: Flickr, Pete Souza/The White House\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSweet Home Chicago\n\nPresident Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama take in a dusk view of their Chicago hometown.\nImage: Flickr, Pete Souza/The White House\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWhite House Dawn\n\n\"I was able to frame him walking into the light of the Diplomatic Reception Room, with the added bonus of his shadow being cast from the television lights off to the left.\"\nImage: Flickr, Pete Souza/The White House\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpider-Man, Spider-Man\n\nSpider-Man catches President Barack Obama in his imaginary webbing last Halloween. \nImage: Flickr, Pete Souza/The White House\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGetting a Laugh\n\nJimmy Fallon hopes for the best as his team shows President Barack Obama the plan for his \"Slow Jam the News\" segment.\nImage: Flickr, Pete Souza/The White House\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRosa Parks Bus\n\nPresident Barack Obama takes a seat in the famous Rosa Parks bus at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich. before giving a speech.\nImage: Flickr, Pete Souza/The White House\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nObama and Christie\n\nPresident Barack Obama and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie toured the Hurricane Sandy-ravaged Jersey Shore in a bipartisan show of support for area residents months after the storm hit.\nImage: Flickr, Pete Souza/The White House\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSack Race\n\nFirst lady Michelle Obama challenges Jimmy Fallon to a sack race.\nImage: Flickr, Chuck Kennedy/The White House\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nShooting Skeet\n\nPresident Barack Obama was photographed shooting clay targets during the summer of 2012.\nImage: Flickr, Pete Souza/The White House\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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