There was a packed audience in the Banqueting Hall of Glasgow City Chambers on 21 July 2026, to celebrate Nelson Mandela International Day and to hear an update on the progress of the Nelson Mandela Memorial statue.
Below is an edited version of the speech delivered by Brian Filling, Chair of the Nelson Mandela Scottish Memorial Foundation, at the Civic Reception hosted by the Lord Provost of Glasgow.
Thank you, Baillie Lally, for hosting this Nelson Mandela International Day on behalf of the Lord Provost. May I take this opportunity to thank the Lord Provost for her support, and that of Glasgow City Council, for the work of the Nelson Mandela Scottish Memorial Foundation.
On behalf of ACTSA Scotland and the Nelson Mandela Scottish Memorial Foundation may I welcome everyone to tonight’s reception.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising, now celebrated as South Africa’s Youth Day. The Soweto uprising led to an uplift in the struggle against apartheid and to many young people leaving South Africa to join the armed struggle.
May I also thank Heather Lynn and the string quartet for their music when you all arrived. They will be playing again after the speeches.
Unveiling of statue of Nelson Mandela
Many of you will be aware that we have set Friday at 4pm on 9 October as the date for the unveiling of the statue of Nelson Mandela.
The statue of Nelson Mandela will be sited in Nelson Mandela Place facing the old Apartheid South African consulate which we picketed for many years. This year is also the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Scottish Committee of the Anti-Apartheid Movement when I became Chair and John Nelson became secretary.
The statue will be a focal point for future generations to learn about Mandela’s and the South African people’s struggle against colonialism and apartheid. We hope it will also be a focal point for the continuing struggle against racism wherever and whenever it raises its head.
Unfortunately, racism and those who promulgate it have become emboldened in recent years. This is due to a variety of factors including the fact that when many people are struggling to make ends meet they are desperately looking for solutions. Nigel Farage and the Reform party and others then present the easy solution that immigrants are to blame for the cost of living crisis.
Other political parties unfortunately too often respond to this in a way that feeds into this narrative.
It is ignored that the vast majority of immigrants make a valuable contribution to society. Our health service, which is in crisis, would collapse without the work of immigrants.
However, it is encouraging that many people see through the propaganda.
Many of you may have seen the film, “Everybody to Kenmure Street”, which tells the story of the defence of asylum seekers by the Pollokshields community in Glasgow when they were detained in an early morning raid but later that day released by the solidarity of the community. It shows that the solidarity of the people against the repressive actions of the state can be successful.
I am pleased that my friend, the Director of the film, Felipe Bustos Sierra, and the film have received many prestigious awards.
This scapegoating of immigrants deflects from the real culprits creating the problems. The vast and growing inequalities in our society are not created by migrants but by the economic system we live under. Money is found to fund the armaments companies and overseas wars but cannot be found to fund our hospitals, schools and housing or the people who are needed to work in these necessary institutions.
Many of the immigrants or asylum seekers who find their way here are from countries which have been subject to devastating wars by the West including Britain. I refer to Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Somalia, and many other countries. Many of the people who escape from the horrors of war or its devastating aftermath would prefer to stay in their home country.
And then there is Palestine.
The ongoing genocide by Israel in Gaza in which Britain has been complicit and the accelerating encroachment of Israeli settlers in the West Bank will produce more asylum seekers and refugees – that is if they could escape.
South Africa is to be applauded for taking Israel to the International Court of Justice charging it with the crime of genocide. Most people in the world see this but it is still denied by those who continue to support and arm Israel.
Nelson Mandela supported the Palestinian’s quest for freedom, justice and peace and he said, “South Africa will not be free until Palestine is free.”
Mandela Statue
We have made great progress with the aim of creating a statue of Nelson Mandela since last year’s Mandela Day event.
We would not have got to this stage without the unstinting work of the Foundation’s Vice-chair and Project Manager, Janis Carson. Janis has worked with our architect, James Tait; Paul Jaffray of our contractor, Sir Robert McAlpine; Powderhall Bronze Foundry and Leiths Natural Stone to get us to this stage.
You may recall that we had to move the site for the statue from its original intended site to another site in Nelson Mandela Place due to the discovery of underground pipes and cables. This meant seeking new planning permission which we managed through the work of James Tait, our architect. I would like to thank James publicly for his work from the early days of the project through to the present.
Design Competition
After these new trial trenches were dug, the cost of which was borne by the contractor Sir Robert McAlpine, and the receipt of planning permission we were able to launch the design competition for the statue. We received many expressions of interest and from the submissions a shortlist of 5 was drawn up by an Evaluation Panel which comprised sculptors, Deirdre Nicholls and Kirti Mandir; architect, James Tait; and SRM engineer, Paul Jaffray, as well as the Foundation’s officers.
The shortlisted sculptors were asked to submit proposals and produce maquettes of their proposed design. These were then displayed in the foyer of the City Chambers in November last year.
Thank you to the Lord Provost and her staff, in particular, Laura Lambert, for arranging this and for their much-valued support more generally for every aspect of the project.
We welcomed over 500 visitors to the exhibition of the maquettes and for taking the time to complete evaluation forms. We also had school children and their teachers from 8 primary schools who had used the Learning Resource entitled “When Mandela danced in the Square”, commissioned by the Foundation and produced by the West of Scotland Develoment Education Centre (WoSDEC). Our thanks to WoSDEC, Diana Firth, and our Board member, Claire Dunphy, for all their work in making this happen.
I should also thank Debbie Gillespie and Janis Carson for organising the public consultation and the volunteers who staffed it. Janis took on the daunting task of compiling the results from the hundreds of evaluation forms submitted.
Thanks are due to to the many volunteers who staffed the exhibition of maquettes, some of whom are here tonight.
Following the public consultation our Judging Panel, which included the Lord Provost and the South African High Commissioner, then met and took into consideration the views of the professional Evaluation Panel and those of the public. They made a recommendation to the Board of the Foundation. Alan B Herriot was then commissioned as the artist to design the statue.
The lawyer, James McMorrow of Harper Macleod, worked with us on a pro-bono basis, in drawing up contracts. I would like to thank James for his assistance in this regard.
Sculpture
We paid several visits to Alan Herriot’s sculpture studio and were most impressed by his professionalism and with his work. Alan completed his clay model which was one and half times life size. It was then transported to Powderhall Bronze Foundry where it was cast in bronze and which we also visited several times during the course of their work. All of that work is now complete. The sculpture will be patinated nearer the time of installation.
The block of South African grey granite for the statue’s plinth has been transported from South Africa and is currently being cut and finished by Leiths Natural Sone in Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire.
The foundations for the statue have now been laid and the pavement re-instated by our contractor, Sir Robert McAlpine, in preparation for the installation of the plinth and statue.
Installation
We are now preparing for the installation of the statue and its unveiling on 9 October. This has included many areas of work – getting permits for the road closure, arranging staging for the unveiling event, stewarding and security, liaising with the police, arranging First Aid and insurance.
The Scottish Trades Union Congress and many trade unions have been supportive over the years in the campaign against apartheid in South Africa and since then contributing financially and in other ways to the work of the Foundation. At this year’s Congress a resolution supporting our aims and our work was moved by Dundee Trades Council, seconded by the Fire Brigades Union and passed unanimously. Colin Brown, Seona Hart and Lewis Clark of the FBU are with us tonight so thank you for much appreciated support.
I should also thank the Scottish Trade Union Congress’s Deputy General Secretary. Dave Moxham, who is also with us, for his work with the recruitment and organising of stewards and security for the unveiling event on 9 October.
Education and Information
At the same time as this work for the installation and the public unveiling of the statue, we are working on developing further educational materials and an information portal to be associated with the statue.
Paul Jaffray of SRM has organised a Time Capsule to be laid in the foundations just before the installation of the statue. The time capsule will contain the thoughts and artwork about Nelson Mandela and their hopes for the future of schoolchildren from 8 Primary schools in Glasgow and West of Scotland. The West of Scotland Development Education Centre (WoSDEC) have played a key role in bringing this about and are working with us in producing online materials to be associated with the statue.
We have been assisted by many people in getting to this stage but it would be remiss of me if I didn’t thank Sir Alex Ferguson for his generous donation to the Foundation and our other Patrons; and the members of the Foundation’s Board including past members of the Board for their work over many years in helping to get us to this stage.
I am pleased to see our former Vice-Chair, Jim Tait, has joined us tonight and for his much-appreciated work over the years. I should also mention the late Chris Bartter, our former Communications Officer, and the late John Stevenson, our Website Developer, It is gratifying to know that their work is soon to come to fruition. I should also thank Kate Ramsden who took over running our website from John and has played a key role for us since then.
As you will gather many people have supported us and given of their energy, time and skills in getting us to this final stage of creating a statue of Nelson Mandela in Glasgow, the first city in the world to award him the Freedom of the city.
It will be a great day for the city on the 9 October when the statue of Madiba is installed in Nelson Mandela Place. I hope you will join us there and encourage others to attend the celebration of a great man, his life of struggle and that of the South African people, and the solidarity of the people of Glasgow, Scotland and Britain.