The renowned sculptor Alan B Herriot created the new statue.

Glasgow was the first city in the world to award Mandela its Freedom in 1981, while Mandela remained incarcerated on Robben Island. 

Mandela spent 27 years behind bars before his release in 1990 and was elected in 1994 as the South African president following the conclusion of apartheid.

After awarding Mandela the Freedom of the City, Glasgow ultimately renamed the street where the statue is now situated as Nelson Mandela Place in 1986. 

In 1993, Mandela visited Glasgow and later received the Freedom of eight other cities in the UK.

On 9 October, the statue was unveiled, which is the anniversary of Mandela’s historic 1993 visit to Glasgow. 

On that day, thousands of people gathered in George Square to hear Mandela speak and give him a hero’s welcome. 

Brian Filling, chair of the Nelson Mandela Scottish Memorial Foundation, the organisation that spearheaded the project, said: “The unveiling of the statue of Nelson Mandela is another great day in Glasgow’s proud history of association with a struggle thousands of miles away.

“The creation of the statue has been brought about by the support and financial contributions of ordinary people over many years. It is a permanent memorial to Nelson Mandela and the struggle of the South African people against a racist and inhumane system.”

Filling added: “The statue stands as a testament to the solidarity shown by people in Glasgow, Scotland and Britain with the South African people in their long and just struggle.”

The Lord Provost of Glasgow, Jacqueline McLaren, said: “This moment represents far more than the unveiling of a monument. It is a celebration of a unique bond between Glasgow and one of the world’s most admired champions of freedom, equality and justice.

“Nelson Mandela himself later recognised our support, saying that Glasgow would always hold a distinguished place in the history of the international anti-apartheid movement.”

The grey granite used for the plinth was procured in South Africa and brought to Aberdeenshire’s Oldmeldrum, where it was finished and inscribed by Leiths Natural Stone.

Herriot created the statue at his studio in Penicuik, and it was cast in bronze at Edinburgh’s Powderhall Bronze Foundry.

The contractor Sir Robert McAlpine laid the foundations for the statue.