WIDESPREAD, impassioned protests were prompted by the life sentences meted out to Nelson Mandela and seven other members of South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement in 1964.
Eleven arrests were made at a London rally. Telegrams of protest were sent from Edinburgh and other cities to the UK Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Hume. A torchlight procession was held in Edinburgh; and a rally in Glasgow, attended by 300 people, heard from MP Neil Carmichael and a South African, Cecil Williams, a former close associate of Mandela’s.
The MP said the apartheid government had shown a chink in its armour by sentencing the eight defendants to life terms rather than sentencing them to death. Mr Williams said the government now had the finest brains in the country locked up – and that it was therefore no accident that South Africans now saw Mandela as the country’s next prime minister. “I predict that he will be prime minister far sooner than [then-current Prime Minister Dr Hendrik] Verwoerd or the world expect”, he added.
Mandela was released from prison in February 1990, and in 1993 he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with SA President FW de Klerk. In May 1994 he became the first president of democratic South Africa.
In October 1993, on a day of high emotion, Mandela arrived in George Square (right). During his time in prison he had been awarded the freedom of many cities – Glasgow had been the first, in 1986 – and he wanted to thank them all.
“He did not smile; he positively beamed. His eye, no longer haunted by his years in prison, sparkled with mischief and humour,” wrote The Herald’s Allan Laing. “The moment had been a long time coming. But here it was. Mandela was with them at last.”
At the end, there was an instance of sheer magic, when the South African singer, Mara Louw, took to the stage and on the stage, sang a Sowetan pop song. Its infectious rhythm delighted the crowd, said Laing.
“But, more to the point, it moved 75-year-old Mandela to dance. It was a wonderful display of genuine humanity and unabashed fun, qualities which are all too rare in the austere ranks of the world’s great statesmen.”
Read more: Herald Diary
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here