Hollywood actress slams 'fake' interpreter
Remember Hollywood star Marlee Matlin? She's the award-winning deaf actress who played a prosecutor in the hit TV series Reasonable Doubts back in the nineties.
Matlin has lashed out at the man hired to translate Madiba's memorial service for the deaf community, branding it offensive. She has spoken to CNN following the controversy around Thamsanqa Dyantyi, dubbed the 'fake sign language interpreter' by the media.
The 48-year-old Oscar winner has joined a chorus of groups, both local and international, who've slammed the supposed translator, saying she is shocked and offended. Watch her response below...
The government said yesterday that it will probe the alleged incorrect use of sign language by Dyantyi.
The Sign Language Education and Development in Cape Town said the interpreter was "a complete and utter fraud". "If he values his life he must come clean, because the deaf community throughout the world are outraged," director Cara Loening said.
She said not one of his signs at the memorial at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday had anything to do with sign language. "It was like getting somebody off the street and telling them to flap their hands around," said Loening.
"This man made a mockery of the service. How disrespectful for what Madiba stood for."