The South African government says it is investigating the hiring of a signer for the deaf at Nelson Mandela's memorial, as reports emerge alleging he had once faced a murder charge.
The signer, Thamsanqa Jantjie, had stood just feet from US President Barack Obama and other world leaders at Tuesday's event at the Soweto World Cup stadium.
He became a focus of media attention after organisations for the deaf accused him of being an imposter and signing gibberish throughout the memorial service.
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Jantjie has insisted to the media that he is a qualified signer and claims he had suffered a schizophrenic attack that left him confused and hallucinating on stage.
The private South African TV channel eNCA alleged in a report on Friday that he had faced violent criminal charges in the past, including murder and kidnapping.
Government spokeswoman Phumla Williams said the government was investigating whether a security lapse had taken place in hiring Jantjie and whether he was the professional signer he claims to be.
The eNCA report claimed Jantjie had faced a string of criminal charges between 1994 and 2003.
While most were withdrawn "allegedly because he was mentally unfit to stand trial," murder and attempted murder charges were referred to a high court, eNCA said.
The TV channel said it was unclear how the cases were resolved because the relevant judicial files were "empty."
