Charles Sebe

Lt. General Xhanti Charles Sebe[1] was leader of the Ciskei Defence Force- the military of the Bantustan of Ciskei, and its Director of State Security. A former security branch policeman, he later joined the South African Bureau of State Security (B.O.S.S.) before founding the Ciskei state security apparatus.[2]

Described as having created a police state in Ciskei,[3][4] and being perceived as its de facto ruler,[5] he was the brother of Lennox Sebe. He was subsequently arrested by his brother's government, and sentenced to prison by the Ciskei government for incitement,[6][7] but was rescued from jail by white mercenaries,[8] and escaped to the nearby Bantustan of Transkei, where he began an organisation that aimed to overthrow his brother's government.[9]

Charles Sebe was lured back to Ciskei in an operation orchestrated by South African security forces[10][11] in 1991, during the rule of Oupa Gqozo, and, having been wounded in an ambush which killed an associate, was the subject of a manhunt, and he was subsequently was shot to death in cold blood[12] by the Ciskei Security forces.[4][11][13][14] Gqozo was tried in 1993 for the murder, by the Ciskei Supreme Court, and, together with his co-accused, Sergeant-Major Thozamile Veliti, Gqozo was acquitted.[15]

The killing of Sebe was later investigated by South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.[10]