The sign-language interpreter who was accused of botching Nelson Mandela’s memorial service says he was suffering hallucinations as a result of schizophrenia. Thamsanqa Jantjie defended his credentials, but said he saw angels entering FNB Stadium in Soweto, where he stood on stage next to President Obama and other world leaders. He apologized for his signing, which apparently amounted to gibberish.

Thamsanqa Jantjie: “It was the most terrible day of my life. As you have seen the results, it came to the whole newspapers, but in brief, on that day in question, my state of — my physical state was not fine, but it’s not a justification of everything, but it’s just, I want to put it in the clarity that I was not fine on the day in question.”

A South African official said the owners of the company the interpreter worked for appear to have vanished.