Ireland–South Africa relations as premature. The Irish embassy opened in Pretoria in 1994. From the early 1960s Ireland vehemently opposed apartheid in South Africa. South African Nelson Mandela, then a dissident, later president, was awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin in 1988 while a political prisoner; he collected the award upon his release in 1990. Diplomatic ties between the two countries were established in 1994. In November 2003, Brian Cowen, while touring Africa as Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, promised South African President Thabo Mbeki that Ireland would highlight African problems when it ascended to the Council Presidency of the European
S. B. Joel's XI cricket team in South Africa in 1924–25 S. B. Joel's XI cricket team in South Africa in 1924–25 S. B. Joel's XI cricket team in South Africa in 1924–25 was a team of English cricketers which toured South Africa between November 1924 and February 1925 and played 14 first-class cricket matches and seven other games. The tour was an unofficial one: an official tour of Australia organised by the Marylebone Cricket Club took place at the same time. The tour was financed by the South African cricket authorities with assistance from the wealthy Anglo-South African financier, Solomon Joel; at the time, it was generally referred to as