Mandela memorial interpreter suffered 'schizophrenic episode' at service

South African sign language interpreter, who was branded fake for his performance at Nelson Mandela's memorial, has said he had suffered a schizophrenic episode during the service.

In an interview with the South African newspaper "The Star", Thamsanqa Jantjie said he suddenly lost concentration, started hallucinating and saw angels while interpreting alongside world dignitaries, News.com.au reports.

He further said that still he could not leave as he did not wanted to cause an embarrassment to his nation. So he tried to control himself and did not show the world what was going on with him, the report added.

Jantjie felt sorry for what happened at the service as he did not know what triggered the attack.

Director of Sign Language Education and Development in Cape Town Cara Loening said Jantjie is a complete fraud and he was not doing anything at the service, just literally flapping his arms around.