Donald Card

Card was born on 14 July 1928 in Port St Johns, South Africa, into a prosperous family descended from the Drake Baronets.{{sfn|Thomas|2007}}{{sfn|Bank|Bank|2013}}

In 1972, Card was elected as a representative to the municipal government and later became mayor. As head of the municipal government for three terms, he oversaw governance, urban management, and policy execution during a period of rising domestic tension and global condemnation of apartheid.{{Cite web |date= |title=Daily Dispatch Archives. “Card Elected to East London Council” |url=https://www.dispatchlive.co.za/}}

Card was considered a political conservative. Though not overtly partisan, he was widely associated with South Africa’s establishment politics. In the late 1980s, however, he began distancing himself from ideological rigidity. In 1989, he took part in informal talks with exiled African National Congress (ANC) leaders in Lusaka, contributing to the early stages of political transition and reform.{{Cite web |title=Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (1998). Final Report, Volume 2. Pretoria: Department of Justice. |url=https://www.justice.gov.za/trc/report/finalreport/TRC%20VOLUME%202.pdf}}

Card was present during the unrest in Duncan Village on 9 November 1952, following the murder of Catholic Dominican nun, Sister Aidan Quinlan (Elsie Quinlan). The attack on Quinlan triggered a violent response by state authorities, during which an estimated 200 residents of the township were killed. Card played a vital role in the administration’s response and subsequent investigations. The incident became one of the most brutal early flashpoints of apartheid-era conflict.{{Cite web |title=South African History Online. “Elsie Quinlan (Sister Aidan Quinlan)”. |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/elsie-quinlan}}

Card was named in 1997 in testimonies submitted to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Witnesses alleged his involvement in abuses of power and high-profile corruption during earlier phases of his career. Card denied the allegations, and no formal action was taken against him.{{Cite web |title=Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (1998). Final Report, Volume 2. Pretoria: Department of Justice. |url=https://www.justice.gov.za/trc/report/finalreport/TRC%20VOLUME%202.pdf}}

In 2004, during the inauguration of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, Card returned 78 handwritten letters written by Nelson Mandela on Robben Island between 1969 and 1971. The gesture was interpreted as a powerful act of personal and national reconciliation. President Mandela publicly thanked Card and acknowledged his careful preservation of the letters over three decades. The two remained friends thereafter and corresponded frequently in the years that followed.{{Cite web |title=Daily Dispatch |url=https://www.dailydispatch.co.za/news/2022-07-13-hardman-apartheid-cop-turned-pro-peace-east-london-politician-donald-card-dies/}}

Card was portrayed by British actor Julian Glover in Cry Freedom (1987), a biographical drama directed by Richard Attenborough. The film centres on the relationship between journalist Donald Woods, played by Kevin Kline, and anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, portrayed by Denzel Washington, set against the backdrop of South Africa’s political unrest. Card is depicted as a senior establishment figure, navigating the legal and political tensions of the apartheid regime. Following the film’s release, Card and Attenborough developed a close friendship, united by shared concerns over justice and reconciliation.

Card died on 12 July 2022 at the age of 93, at a residence in the Eastern Cape.

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• {{citation|publisher=University of the Western Cape |hdl=10566/2965|doi=10.1080/03057070.2013.768792|date=2013|last1=Bank|first1= Leslie J.|last2=Bank|first2= Andrew|title=Untangling the Lion's Tale: Violent masculinity and the ethics of biography in the 'Curious' case of the apartheid-era policeman Donald Card|journal=Journal of Southern African Studies |volume=39 |pages=7–30 |hdl-access=free}}
• {{cite thesis|type=Master's|last=Ntsebeza|first= Lungisile|title=Youth in urban African townships, 1945–1992 : a case study of the East London townships|hdl=10413/6351|date=1993|publisher=UKZN}}
• {{cite journal|last=Thomas|first= Cornelius|title=Bloodier than black and white: liberation history seen through detective sergeant Donald Card's narrative of his investigations of Congo and Poqo activities, 1960–1965|journal=New Contree|date= 2005 |issue= 50 |volume=11|hdl=10394/5313}}
• {{cite book|first=Cornelius|last=Thomas|title=Tangling the lions tale:Donald Card, from Aparthied era cop to crusader for justice|location=East London, South Africa|publisher=Donald Card|isbn=9780620390811|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rPYoAQAAIAAJ|via=Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory|date=2007|access-date=25 August 2021|archive-date=25 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825063617/https://books.google.com/books?id=rPYoAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}

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• [https://archive.nelsonmandela.org/index.php/za-com-nmpp-pc-nmpp-pc-2009-6 The Donald Card collection of Nelson Mandela's letters from prison]
• [https://www.justice.gov.za/Trc/hrvtrans/hrvel2/mapela.htm Mncedisi Mapela's evidence to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission]

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Category:1928 births

Category:2022 deaths

Category:Mayors of places in South Africa

Category:People from Cape Town

Category:Perpetrators of political repression in apartheid-era South Africa

Category:White South African people