The fake sign language interpreter from the Mandela memorial had faced charges of murder, rape, theft, breaking and entering, malicious damage to property, and kidnapping.

How was he hired? Was it sheer incompetence or something more sinister?

A government official said the Xhosa-speaking Jantjie also did not speak English well enough to interpret effectively and that the firm that hired him had “vanished into thin air.”

Thanks for the info, government official. Vanished into thin air. That's incisive. Personally, I choose thick air for my vanishing tricks.