Glasgow

This is one of Glasgow’s most quietly defiant and poetic gestures in international-protest history.

The South African Consulate in Glasgow

During the apartheid era, the South African Consulate was located on the fifth floor of the Glasgow Stock Exchange, right in the city centre. From August 1985, the Scottish Anti-Apartheid Committee began holding weekly Friday pickets outside the consulate, protesting the brutal regime in South Africa and demanding the release of Nelson Mandela.

Why Glasgow Renamed the Street

In 1986, Glasgow City Council made a bold move: they renamed the street where the consulate was located from St George’s Place to 'Nelson Mandela Place'. This was no random tribute. It was a deliberate act of political symbolism. At the time, Mandela was still imprisoned on Robben Island, and the South African government considered him a terrorist. Yet Glasgow had already awarded him the Freedom of the City in 1981—the first city in the world to do so.

Renaming the street meant that every piece of mail sent to the consulate had to bear the name of the man they were actively imprisoning. It was a daily reminder of international condemnation, delivered with Glaswegian cheek.

The Consulate’s Reaction

The consulate’s response was evasive but telling. Rather than use the new address, they switched to a **post office box number** to avoid acknowledging “Nelson Mandela Place” on official correspondence. This quiet sidestep spoke volumes—it was an attempt to erase the symbolic sting without confronting it directly.

Legacy and Mandela’s Visit

When Mandela was released and visited Glasgow in 1993, he was welcomed by over 15,000 people in George Square. He told the crowd that the gesture of renaming the street had given hope to those imprisoned and fighting apartheid. It showed them they were not forgotten.