Interpreter at Mandela memorial stands by his performance
December 12, 2013 -- Updated 0806 GMT (1606 HKT)
(CNN) -- The sign language interpreter widely ridiculed for his performance at the Nelson Mandela memorial stands by his work.
Thamsanqa Jantjie told CNN affiliate Radio 702 in Johannesburg that he is a fully qualified interpreter and has been trusted in the past with other big events.
'I've interpreted in many press conferences, including the presidential conference,' he said. 'There was no one at all that said I interpreted wrong.'
Not so, says the head of the South Africa Translators' Institute.
There were complaints last year after Jantjie interpreted the proceedings at the ruling African National Conference elective conference, the institute's chairman Johan Blaauw told the South African Press Association.
The radio station interviewer asked Jantjie to comment on media reports that he was hearing voices in his head and hallucinating during the Mandela event Tuesday.
Pressed twice, Jantjie reluctantly acknowledged that he was a 'patient receiving a treatment in schizophrenia.'
As outrage over his interpretation skills grew, so did questions over who hired him.
A spokesman for the ANC said the party had not hired him for the Mandela event.
'We have used him on some occasions. But yesterday was not an ANC event. So we cannot answer for yesterday,' spokesman Jackson Mthembu said Wednesday.
The South African government was investigating the reports, said Collins Charbane, minister for performance monitoring and evaluation in the presidency.
Jantjies told Talk Radio 702 that he was hired by a company called SA Interpreters, which was hired by the ANC. He also said he's formally qualified as an interpreter and that his qualifications are filed with the company.
'I think that I've been a champion of sign language,' he said.
CNN's Kim Norgaard contributed to this report
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