Location New Edinburgh, Ottawa Phone +1 613-744-0330 | High Commissioner Membathisi Mdladlana Province Ontario | |
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Address 15 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON K1M 1M8, Canada Similar Embassy of Angola - Ottawa, Embassy of Croatia - Ottawa, High Commission of Brunei, Embassy of Egypt - Ottawa, Embassy of Mongolia - Ottawa Profiles | ||
The South African High Commission in Ottawa is the high commission of South Africa in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 15 Sussex Drive in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood of Ottawa. Directly across the street from the embassy is 24 Sussex Drive the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada. East of the high commission is 7 Rideau Gate, Canada's official guest house for visiting dignitaries. Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General of Canada is also nearby at 1 Sussex Drive.
The building was constructed for James Stevenson, the Bank of Montreal's representative in Ottawa, in 1841. In 1867 it was purchased by Moss Kent Dickinson an industrialist and mayor of Ottawa.
During the apartheid era the embassy was the scene of frequent protests. When South Africa was expelled from the Commonwealth of Nations it was reduced to being only an embassy and there was pressure to end diplomatic relations between the country. With the end of apartheid it was restored to high commission status and the embassy received its first black envoy, Billy Modise, in April 1995. A former leader of the African National Congress Youth Wing, Modise spent 31 years in exile after fleeing South Africa in 1960. The current High Commissioner is Membathisi Mdladlana.
South Africa also has a Consulate General in Toronto.