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
Libertarianism in South Africa This led to the formation of the Groundswell movement which was active prior to the 1994 elections. Trevor Watkins, Claire Emary and Charl Heydenrych formed the KISS party prior to the 1994 elections, which then resulted in the formation of the Federal party led by Francis Kendall. In 2013 Barry de Harde, Charl Heydenrych, Trevor Watkins and Enyinna Nkem-abonta got together to form the Libertarian Party of South Africa, which was inaugurated at the 2013 Seminar in Prince Albert. The Libertarian Party was registered as a formal political party in 2014 but did not contest the 2014 elections due to