Report: Fake sign language interpreter used at Nelson Mandela service Dec. 10 (UPI) -- According to the U.K. deaf news blog The Limping Chicken, the sign language interpreter at the service for Nelson Mandela was a complete fake. The interpreter, who was supposed to be signing what speakers were saying so that deaf viewers could understand, had a "strange repetitive rhythm to his movements -- his signs appearing to come in threes or fours, occasionally swinging his shoulders, as if he was signing along with an intermittent beat." According to the blog, "the structure of his hand and body movements didn't seem to change no matter what the speaker was saying." Deaf activist Alison Bryan spotted what was going on: She wasn't the only one... The blog ended its post by saying, "Above all I feel sorry for Deaf South Africans, who should have had amazing access to the service, with an interpreter there on screen, but got this instead." The Limping Chicken