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
Flag of South Africa (1928–1994) Government of South Africa post-1994 and the right to display it in South Africa is protected under Chapter Two of the Constitution of South Africa as an expression of free speech. In the 21st century, usage of the old South African flag experienced use of as a symbol by white supremacists not just in South Africa but worldwide. A particular awareness of this followed the shooting at a Charleston, South Carolina black church in 2015, as the suspect Dylann Roof had previously been pictured wearing a jacket with the flag and the flag of Rhodesia on it. This association with