Nelson Mandela memorial interpreter: 'I am champion of sign language' Asked about his claim to a reporter from The Star that he suffered from a schizophrenic episode during the service that left him "hearing voices" and unable to perform properly, Mr Jantjie initially sought to back away from the claim. "In terms of quoting my medical status, I won't feel comfortable to talk about it on the media," he said. The issue now that I want to focus on is the issue that I have interpreted wrong. Pressed on the issue of whether he suffered from schizophrenia, he said: "I would not like to discuss my medical status on the media as it would harm my children otherwise." Challenged that he had already raised the issue with the Johannesburg Star newspaper, he relented, saying: "Yes, I am currently a patient receiving treatment in schizophrenia." South Africans on Twitter have reacted to outrage to this revelation, saying that if Mr Jantjie was indeed a schizophrenic, it posed even more embarrassing questions for those who hired him. One poster, Linda Barron, pointed out that the man who assassinated former South African leader Hendrick Verwoerd also "heard voices." The fake interpreter was a huge security risk. Another, Lindiwe Hani, wrote: "What would have happened if the voices told him to lunge at Barack Obama?? This is despicable, government needs to be accountable. Friends of Mr Jantjie's on Facebook suggested he originally came from the city of Bloemfontein in the Free State and was not taking his catapulting into global celebrity well. One wrote: "I feel bad for him. I can't believe I'm actually losing sleep over this... This is all over, and he's not taking it well. Another responded: "I am really sad indeed cos all along I though he knew what he was doing. I remember his stories when growing up.