Glasgow was on the right side of history over Nelson Mandela support, says former Lord Provost

It was an honour which had been bestowed on the former South African president several years before while he was still imprisoned in Robben Island.

Former Lord Provost Dr Kelly was instrumental in making it happen and had the chance to ask Mandela what the honour meant to him.

Thousands of miles away the people of Glasgow were taking notice of Mandela's struggle for freedom and in 1981, Glasgow councillors agreed Mandela should be given the Freedom of the City - the first city in the world to do so. Eight years later he visited Glasgow to thank the people after being released from prison in 1990.

Crowds cheered and greeted him in George Square just a stone’s throw from Nelson Mandela Place which had been renamed after him in 1986.

As campaigners launch a final push to reach their fundraising target of £150,000 to create a statue of Mandela in Glasgow, Dr Kelly recalled how the connection with the city came about.

“The original proposal came from the Glasgow city Labour party who wrote to me at the council to suggest Mandela was a man who would be suitable to be given the Freedom of the City,” remembers Dr Kelly.

“I read up about him before making a decision and his struggle was something I thought Glaswegians would associate with and that we should support it. The Labour group approved it and it was agreed that he was a man to present the freedom to.

“I wrote to the South Africa government to say that Glasgow had done this and could I travel to Robben Island but I knew this would be refused. Instead we chose a time to present it to an African nation and Nigeria was chosen as it was the most populist African country. It coincided with the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana and I knew here would be a number of heads of state and Commonwealth representatives here when we decided on the date in August.”

Nelson Mandela arrived in Glasgow in 1993 to accept the Freedom of the City

At Glasgow’s City Chambers, Nigerian vice president Dr Alex Ekwueme, a graduate of the University of Strathclyde, accepted the honour which was to be held for Mandela until he was released.

Dr Kelly, who launched the Glasgow's Miles Better campaign for the city in the 1980s, added: “We had 16 Commonwealth countries represented and I was astonished. I didn’t realise what we had done was so important and affirmed Glasgow’s decision was the right one."

The former Lord Provost remembers there was opposition at the time with Conservative councillors objecting to the move as Mandela was viewed as a terrorist and he described it as very much a Labour party initiative.

Dr Kelly met Mandela privately when he came to Glasgow on October 9, 1993.

“I remember he was very sensitive and statesman like. He spoke in a very old-fashioned way maybe that was reflection of his years in prison. He was much more formal than I expected. I asked him did he know about what were doing here in Glasgow?

“He said he knew through the grapevine and that it did bring them hope. They were given the impression that no one cared about them and no one was interested, but he was heartened and encouraged that people hadn’t forgotten about him.”

Glasgow took further action when St George’s Place was renamed Nelson Mandela Place which was the home of the South African Consulate at the time, which was among several organisations and businesses which refused to adopt the new name.

Nelson Mandela Place, Glasgow, formerly St George's Place

This week the Nelson Mandela Scottish Memorial Foundation, NMSMF, launched a Crowdfunder appeal to raise the remaining money required to create a statue of Mandela in Scotland.

The Crowdfunder - Scotland’s Mandela Statue – Make it Happen - will be running during Black History Month in October to raise the remaining £20,000.

A large Granite block has been sourced from South Africa and will be finished in Aberdeenshire to create the plinth for the statue to be sited in Glasgow’s Nelson Mandela Place. Planning permission has been received and trial trenches will be dug during October to check for any underground services not discovered by earlier radar surveys. When the remaining money is raised a competition for the sculpture will be launched.

Former Lord Provost, Dr Michael Kelly met Nelson Mandela in 1993

Brian Filling, chairman of the NMSMF, said: “A permanent memorial to Nelson Mandela in Scotland will remind Scots and visitors of the proud history of solidarity with the struggle against apartheid and will also educate future generations on the need to stand up against racism and injustice whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head."

Dr Kelly is supportive of the bid for a statue of Mandela in Glasgow and believes it is essential.

“Statues are controversial at the moment, but they tell a city’s history – its rights and its wrong,” he said.

“It would be a statue to Mandela and his struggle for freedom and human rights and is important to remember for future generations.

“Mandela had a 27 year struggle for freedom, Glasgow played a small part I think we were on the right side of history. I am very proud of that.”

To donate go to https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/make-it-happen-scotlands-mandela-statue