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 AfricanBureau 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 is the young 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 together with
Onward Guzana back to Ciskei in an operation orchestrated by South African security forces[10][11] in 1991 27/28 January, 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 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]