South African ruling party says 2 officials linked to bogus interpreter resigned last month

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa's ruling party says two officials linked to a bogus sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial have resigned.

The New Age newspaper reported Tuesday that the officials from the ruling African National Congress included Bantubahle Xozwa, alleged owner of a company that had hired the bogus interpreter.

Xozwa has said the interpreter, Thamsanqa Jantjie, was not working for the company at the Dec. 10 Mandela memorial, at which he stood close to U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders and signed gibberish.

Jantjie said he has schizophrenia, hallucinated and believed he saw angels during the memorial. Experts say his signs were meaningless.

Friends say Jantjie was also involved in the mob killing of two men in 2003, but was found mentally unfit to stand trial.