Fake Schizophrenic signer at Mandela's memorial 'was once charged with murder and was sentenced to three years for theft’

A South African sign language interpreter accused of making up his own signs during a memorial to Nelson Mandela has faced charges for murder, rape and kidnapping, it was claimed today.
Thamsanqa Jantjie, 34, stood just a few feet from from President Obama and others who spoke at Tuesday's ceremony that was broadcast around the world.
South African news website eNCA reported that Mr Jantjie, who has schizophrenia, has faced charges for rape (1994), theft (1995), housebreaking (1997), malicious damage to property (1998), murder, attempted murder and kidnapping (2003) charges.
The website said it was unclear if the 2003 murder case was ever concluded as the court file was found to be empty during their investigations.It also reported that many of the charges brought against him were dropped, allegedly because he was mentally unfit to stand trial.

Mr Jantjie was acquitted on the rape charge, but he was convicted of theft for which he was sentenced to three years in prison. The channel could not ascertain if he served the jail time.
Mr Jantjie was today approached by a reporter for the Associated press who asked him about the criminal charges, but he refused to comment.
The news is a further embarrassment to South African officials at it was revealed that Mr Jantjie had faked sign language at the memorial event.
Yesterday Mr Jantjie revealed he may have suffered a schizophrenic episode on stage after claiming he saw 'angels' at the event.
He said that his hallucinations began while he was interpreting and that he tried not to panic because there were 'armed policemen around me.'

He said he was paid 85 dollars (£52) for interpreting the event.
But he also apologized for his performance that has been dismissed by many sign-language experts as gibberish.

He said he did not tell the company that contracted him for the event for about $85 that he was due for the checkup, but said the owner of SA Interpreters in Johannesburg was aware of his condition.

Jantjie said he received one year of sign language interpretation at a school in Cape Town, and insisted that he has previously interpreted at many events without anyone complaining.

The AP showed Jantjie video footage of him interpreting on stage at the Mandela memorial service.
'I don't remember any of this at all,' he said.
Today a South African deputy Cabinet minister admitted 'a mistake happened' in hiring Mr Jantjie.
Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu said that government officials have tried to track down the company that provided Mr Jantjie but that the owners 'have vanished into thin air.'