High Commission of South Africa in Ottawa
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The South African High Commission in Canada is the high commission of South Africa in Ottawa, 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. Rideau Hall is also nearby.
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 His Excellency Dr. Abraham Sokhaya Nkomo.
South Africa also has consular offices in Toronto and Vancouver.
