The Nelson Mandela Scottish Memorial Foundation celebrated Nelson Mandela International Day on 18 July at a Civic Reception hosted by Glasgow City Council in the City Chambers.
Guests were welcomed by Bailie Hussain, on behalf of the Lord Provost, before Vice-Chair Jim Tait delivered a speech on behalf of NMSMF Chair, Brian Filling who was unable to attend.
There followed an excellent musical interlude from singer songwriter, Calum Baird, followed by Suzanne Bonnar, Scottish based jazz and blues vocalist. Suzanne was accompanied by Gavin Williamson on guitar and brought guests to their feet to join in the South African National Anthem, Nkosi sikelel’ iAfrika.
The text of Brian’s speech, delivered by Jim Tait is below.
Mandela’s life and struggle
“Thank you, Bailie Hussain, for your welcome on behalf of the Lord Provost. May I also welcome guests to Nelson Mandela International Day on behalf of ACTSA Scotland and the Nelson Mandela Scottish Memorial Foundation.
The United Nations designated Nelson Mandela International Day as the 18 July, Nelson’s birthday. We have been marking the anniversary for more than 10 years.
We believe it is important to mark Nelson Mandela International Day and to reflect on Nelson Mandela’s life and struggle, his connection with Glasgow, Scotland and the UK.
The struggle of the South African people involved many deaths, the imprisonment of thousands as well as the gross exploitation of their labour. The apartheid regime was supported by the West with transnational companies making vast profits over the years.
We played a modest role in solidarity with that heroic struggle of the South African people against colonialism and apartheid.
The Anti-Apartheid Movement’s Scottish Committee was formed in 1976 and in 1981 Glasgow was the first city in the world to confer its Freedom on Nelson Mandela. The Vice-President of Nigeria, Alex Ekwueme, accepted the award on behalf of Mandela as he was still incarcerated on Robben Island.
We then arranged with the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid for the Lord Provost to go to New York and launch a worldwide petition calling for the release of Nelson Mandela. The petition was signed by some 2500 Mayors from around the world.
Our campaign to Free Nelson Mandela continued with a number of initiatives. We organised a deputation of Lord Mayors from all over the UK led by the Glasgow Lord Provost to 10 Downing St in 1984.
Mrs Thatcher remained unmoved.
Then there was the re-naming of St George’s Place as Nelson Mandela Place in 1986. That street was the location of the apartheid South African Consulate and the scene of many of our pickets and demonstrations.
In 1988 we organised a demonstration calling for the release of Mandela at the age of 70 which marched to a rally in Glasgow Green of some 30,000 people and was addressed by Oliver Tambo, leader of ANC while Mandela remained in prison.
Amidst all this we boycotted apartheid South Africa, picketed supermarkets selling South African produce, got many bodies to divest and campaigned for sanctions against the apartheid regime.
Nelson Mandela was released on 11 February 1990 after 27 years in prison, and we celebrated in Nelson Mandela Place.
He visited Glasgow in 1993 to receive the Freedom of Glasgow and 8 other UK towns and cities at a special ceremony in this Banqueting Hall. Afterwards he addressed a huge rally in George Square. Some of you will recall that day with Nelson Mandela’s dancing on stage and you may also remember the torrential rain which didn’t put off the thousands who came.
South Africa and Palestine
This year is the 30th anniversary of the first democratic election in South Africa which brought an end to apartheid, that crime against humanity and gave dignity to South Africans. It was an historic event ending 300 years of Dutch and British colonialism.
The recent election in South Africa brought in a Government of National Unity. The new Foreign Minister is Ronald Lamola, who in his previous role as Justice Minister, led the South African legal team at the International Court of Justice which brought the charge of genocide against Israel for its actions in Gaza.
The ICJ found the charge of genocide to be plausible and has taken a number of decisions including calling for a ceasefire and instructing Israel to take steps to prevent genocidal actions.
The United States called the case brought by South Africa and I quote “meritless” and quote, “unfounded” and Israel has ignored the ruling of the ICJ.
Long before the recent carnage in Gaza and the other actions by Israel in the illegal Occupied Territories, Nelson Mandela said that “We will not be free until Palestine is free”.
The work of the Foundation
The Nelson Mandela Scottish Memorial Foundation was founded to remember his principles and values, his life of struggle and for the continuing struggle against racism and inequality.
The Foundation’s educational work includes the Mandela-Tambo Lecture series and last year on the 10th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s death the South African High Commissioner, Kingsley Mamabolo, delivered the lecture.
You can find a copy of the lecture on the stall at a modest price!
The statue of Nelson Mandela
One of our aims is to create a statue of Nelson Mandela as a permanent memorial to that struggle.
We have received Planning permission to site the statue in Nelson Mandela Place. With the assistance of several companies including our architect James Tait, Nixons structural engineers, Hawthorn Boyle, and construction company Sir Robert McAlpine, all of whom are providing their services on a pro-bono basis, we began the necessary preparatory work for the building of the foundations for the statue.
When a trial trench was dug last year several underground service pipes were discovered.
The utility owners require their services to be diverted and the costs of this are estimated to be around £20,000.
Given this we have now approached the Planning department to explore the possibility of moving the site of the statue to another location in Nelson Mandela Place.
Meanwhile we have sourced a large block of granite from South Africa for the statue’s plinth. The company Fyfe Glenrock will transport the granite from South Africa to their facilities in Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire for finishing.
We have raised some £170,000 towards the costs of the foundations, the granite plinth, casting of the bronze, the sculptor’s fee, the transportation of the sculpture and lifting equipment. We will now need to raise more money if we have to divert the underground services or move to a different site in Nelson Mandela Place.
In addition to the monies raised for the statue we have also raised funds for our educational work. We commissioned the West of Scotland Development Education Centre (WoSDEC) to produce an educational resource for schools.
This resource, entitled, ‘When Mandela Danced in the Square” has been welcomed by school students and teachers and has been widely used in schools.
We think, and I hope you agree, that knowledge and understanding of what apartheid was, is an important lesson for future generations and in the continuing struggle against racism and inequality. A permanent memorial will provide a focus for this.
Thank you for your attendance tonight and your continuing support.”
Please continue to support us. Donate to our campaign here.