View source for Ciskei

{{Short description|Former Bantustan in South Africa (1981–94)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Use South African English|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = {{lang|xh|iRiphabliki yeCiskei}}
| conventional_long_name = Republic of Ciskei
| common_name            = Ciskei
| status                 = Bantustan
| status_text            = [[Bantustan]]<br/>(de facto; independence not internationally recognised)
| p1                     = South Africa
| flag_p1                = Flag of South Africa 1928-1994.svg
| s1                     = South Africa
| flag_s1                = Flag of South Africa.svg
| today                  = South Africa
| image_flag             = Flag of Ciskei.svg
| image_coat             = Coat of arms of Ciskei.svg
| flag                   = Flag of Ciskei
| image_map              = Ciskei in South Africa.svg
| image_map_caption      = Location of Ciskei (red) within South Africa (yellow)
| national_motto         = "{{lang|xh|Siyakunqandwa Ziinkwenkwezi}}"{{nbsp|2}}([[Xhosa language|Xhosa]])<br/>"We Shall be Stopped by the Stars"<br/>or "The Sky is the Limit"
| national_anthem        = {{lang|xh|[[Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika]]}}<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.nationalanthems.info/cis.htm | title=Ciskei – nationalanthems.info }}</ref><br/>
[[Xhosa language|Xhosa]]: ''God Bless Africa''
| official_languages     = [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]]<ref name="OfficialLanguagesConstitution"/><br/>English<ref name="OfficialLanguagesConstitution">Republic of Ciskei Constitution Act, No 20 of 1981, chapter II, section 8 "Xhosa and English shall be the official languages of the Republic of Ciskei and shall enjoy equal recognition."</ref>
| capital                = [[Bhisho|Bisho]]
| title_leader           = [[List of leaders of the TBVC states#Venda|Leader]]
| leader1                = {{nowrap|Chief [[Thandatha Jongilizwe Mabandla|J. T. Mabandla]]}}
| year_leader1           = 1972&ndash;1973
| leader2                = {{nowrap|[[Lennox Sebe|Lennox Leslie Wongamu Sebe]]}}
| year_leader2           = 1973&ndash;1978<sup>a</sup>
| leader3                = Lennox Leslie Wongamu Sebe
| year_leader3           = 1978&ndash;1990<sup>b</sup>
| leader4                = {{nowrap|Brigadier General [[Oupa Gqozo]]}}
| year_leader5           = 1994
| leader5                = [[Pieter van Rensburg Goosen]] and [[Bongani Blessing Finca]]  (as [[Transitional Executive Council|TEC]] Administrators)
| year_leader4           = 1990&ndash;1994
| event_pre              = Self-government
| date_pre               = 1 August 1972
| event_start            = Nominal independence
| year_start             = 1961/1972
| date_start             = 4 December
| event2                 = [[1990 Ciskei coup d'état|Coup d'etat]]
| date_event2            = 4 March 1990
| event3                 = Failed coup d'état
| date_event3            = 10 February 1991
| event_end              = Re-integrated into South Africa
| year_end               = 1994
| date_end               = 27 April
| stat_year1             = 1980<ref name="FrankentalSichone2005">{{cite book|author1=Sally Frankental|author2=Owen Sichone|title=South Africa's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2G9vI6NEjgYC&pg=PA187|access-date=2013-09-18|date=2005-01-01|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-674-3|page=187|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212012433/http://books.google.com/books?id=2G9vI6NEjgYC&pg=PA187|archive-date=12 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>
| stat_area1             = 9000
| stat_pop1              = 677,920
| currency               = [[South African rand]]
| footnote_a             = [[Parliamentary democracy]].
| footnote_b             = [[One-party state]].
| coordinates            = {{coord|-32.85|27.44|display=title|source:wikidata}}
}}

'''Ciskei''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ə|s|ˈ|k|aɪ|,_|s|ɪ|s|-|,_|-|ˈ|k|eɪ}} {{respell|səss|KY|,_|siss|-|,_|-|KAY}}, meaning ''on this side of [[Great Kei River|[the river] Kei]]''), officially the '''Republic of Ciskei''' ({{langx|xh|iRiphabliki yeCiskei}}), was a [[Bantustan]] for the [[Xhosa people]], located in the southeast of [[South Africa]]. It covered an area of {{convert|7700|km2}}, almost entirely surrounded by what was then the [[Cape Province]], and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the [[Indian Ocean]].

Under South Africa's policy of [[apartheid]], land was set aside for black peoples in [[self-governing]] territories. Ciskei was designated as one of two homelands, or "Bantustans", for [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]]-speaking people.

Xhosa people were forcibly resettled in the Ciskei and [[Transkei]], the other Xhosa homeland.<ref name="B. 2005">{{Cite book|title=The house of Phalo : a history of the Xhosa people in the days of their independence|last=Peires|first=Jeffrey B.|date=2005|publisher=Jonathan Ball|isbn=978-1868421596|oclc=61529352}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mills|first=Wallace G.|date=August 1983|title=The House of Phalo: A History of the Xhosa People in the Days of Their Independence, by J. B. Peires, Berkeley, Calif., University of California Press, 1982, x, 281 pp. $27.50 (cloth), $10.75 (paperback).|journal=Canadian Journal of History|volume=18|issue=2|pages=265–267|doi=10.3138/cjh.18.2.265|issn=0008-4107}}</ref>

In contrast to the Transkei, which was largely contiguous and deeply rural, and governed by hereditary chiefs, the area that became the Ciskei had initially been made up of a patchwork of "reserves",<ref name="ucPressIntroductionCiskei">{{cite web|url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft158004rs&chunk.id=d0e9723&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e9714&brand=ucpress|title=The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa|website=publishing.cdlib.org|access-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812064551/https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft158004rs&chunk.id=d0e9723&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e9714&brand=ucpress|archive-date=12 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> interspersed with pockets of white-owned farms. In Ciskei, there were elected headmen and a relatively educated working-class populace,<ref name="ucPressIntroductionCiskei" /> but there was a tendency of the region's black residents—who often worked in [[East London, South Africa|East London]], [[Queenstown, Eastern Cape|Queenstown]], and [[King Williams Town]]—to oppose traditional methods of control.<ref name="ucPressCiskeivsTranskei" /><ref name="cWhiteDissertation">{{Cite web |url=http://letras.comp.filos.unam.mx/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ColinWhite_TheRuleOfBrigadierOupaGqozoInCiskei.pdf |title=THE RULE OF BRIGADIER OUPA GQOZO IN CISKEI : 4 MARCH 1990 TO 22 MARCH 1994 |access-date=20 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819084203/http://letras.comp.filos.unam.mx/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ColinWhite_TheRuleOfBrigadierOupaGqozoInCiskei.pdf |archive-date=19 August 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> These differences have been posited as the reason for two separate homelands for the Xhosa people being developed, as well as the later nominal independence of Ciskei from South Africa, than Transkei.<ref name="ucPressCiskeivsTranskei">{{cite web|url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft158004rs&chunk.id=d0e9770&toc.id=d0e9714&brand=ucpress|title=The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa|website=publishing.cdlib.org|access-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812043723/https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft158004rs&chunk.id=d0e9770&toc.id=d0e9714&brand=ucpress|archive-date=12 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

After its creation, large numbers of blacks, in particular, "non-productive Bantus"—women with dependent children, the elderly, and the infirm—were expelled by the apartheid government from designated white areas in the [[Cape Province]] to Ciskei, and it was also treated as a reservoir of cheap black labour.<ref name="cWhiteDissertation" /><ref name="mTechCart" /> The diaspora of the Ciskei Xhosa was due to the settler colonialism and internal wars between the Xhosa.<ref>Switzer, Les. ''Power and Resistance in an African Society: the Ciskei Xhosa and the Making of South Africa.'' University of Wisconsin Press, 1993.<br /></ref>

Ciskei had a succession of capitals during its existence. Originally, [[Zwelitsha]] served as the capital, with the view that [[Alice, South Africa|Alice]] would become the long-term national capital. However, it was [[Bhisho|Bisho]] (now spelled ''Bhisho'') that became the capital until Ciskei's reintegration into South Africa.

==History==
[[File:Ciskei2.jpg|thumb|left|A Xhosa village in Ciskei]]
[[File:Topographic map of the Ciskei.svg|thumb|left|Map of Ciskei]]
By the time [[John Cradock, 1st Baron Howden|Sir John Cradock]] was appointed governor of the [[Cape Colony]] in 1811, the Zuurveld region had lapsed into disorder, and many white farmers had begun abandoning their farms.<ref name="BOOK_AIHOSA79">{{cite book|title=An Illustrated History of South Africa|publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers, Johannesburg|year=1980|isbn=978-0-86850-118-5|editor1-last=Cameron|editor1-first=Trewhella|edition=1|page=79|orig-year=1986|editor2-last=Spies|editor2-first=S.B.}}<!--| access-date=2010-12-22-->
</ref> Early during 1812, on the instructions of the governor, [[John Graham (British Army officer, born 1778)|Lieutenant-Colonel John Graham]] forced 20,000 [[Xhosa people|Xhosa]] to cross the [[Great Fish River|Fish River]].<ref name=BOOK_AIHOSA79 /> Subsequently, 27 military posts were erected across this border, which resulted in the establishment of the garrison towns of [[Makhanda, South Africa|Grahamstown]] and [[Cradock, South Africa|Cradock]].<ref name=BOOK_AIHOSA79 />

At the end of the 19th century, the area known as [[British Kaffraria]] between the Fish and Kei rivers had been set aside for the "Bantu", and was known as the Ciskei from then on.<ref name=BOOK_ESAAHFSAHS152>{{cite book
  | last = Boyce
  | first = A.N.
  | title = Europe and South Africa: A history for South African High schools
  | publisher = Juta & Company, Limited
  | orig-year = 1969
  | year = 1971
  | edition = 3
  | page = 700
  }}
</ref> Europeans gave the name ''Ciskei'' to the area to distinguish it from the ''Transkei'', the area north of the Kei.<ref name="BOOK_IGTSA152">
{{cite book|last=Bulpin|first=T.V.|title=Illustrated Guide to Southern Africa|publisher=[[Reader's Digest]]|year=1980|isbn=978-0-620-04650-3|editor1-last=Mayhew|editor1-first=Vic|edition=2|page=152|editor2-last=Duncan|editor2-first=Tony|editor3-last=Handler|editor3-first=Rosemund|editor3-link=Rosemund Handler}}<!--| access-date=2010-12-22-->
</ref>

After the [[Union of South Africa]] formed in 1910, the "Bantu" rights of occupation remained unclear, and differed from colony to colony within South Africa. The Native Lands Act of 1913 demarcated the reserves in the Union, and made it illegal to sell or lease these lands to Europeans (except in the Cape Colony).<ref name=BOOK_ESAAHFSAHS152 /> [[J. B. M. Hertzog|General Hertzog]] pursued his segregation policy, and subsequently passed the [[Native Trust and Land Act]] in 1936.<ref name=BOOK_ESAAHFSAHS702>{{cite book
  | last = Boyce
  | first = A.N.
  | title = Europe and South Africa: A history for South African High schools
  | publisher = Juta & Company, Limited
  | orig-year = 1969
  | year = 1971
  | edition = 3
  | page = 702
  }}
</ref> This act effectively abolished the right of the Cape "Bantu" to buy land outside of the existing reserves.<ref name=BOOK_ESAAHFSAHS702 />

The boundaries of the Ciskei region changed as land was added and excised. A notable excision was the removal of the Glen Grey and Herschel Districts, and their allocation to the newly independent Transkei,<ref name="mTechCart">{{Cite web |url=http://etd.cput.ac.za/bitstream/handle/20.500.11838/2506/214319954-Ali-Salih%20Mohamed%20Sidahmed-M.Tech-Cartography-Eng-2017.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |title=Home &#124; Electronic Theses and Dissertations |access-date=11 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911121642/http://etd.cput.ac.za/bitstream/handle/20.500.11838/2506/214319954-Ali-Salih%20Mohamed%20Sidahmed-M.Tech-Cartography-Eng-2017.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=11 September 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> with the populations of the districts moving into the rest of Ciskei to retain their South African citizenship (which was subsequently lost when Ciskei became independent).<ref name="mTechCart"/>

By the 1970s, the South African government decided on the final boundaries of Ciskei, as a consolidated area, through the amalgamation of existing reserves allocated to Ciskei, and the purchase of intervening white-owned land.<ref name="mTechCart"/> This amalgamation reduced the total length of Ciskei's borders, making them easier for the South African government to police, as well being an attempt to create a more viable area for the homeland.<ref name="mTechCart"/>

==Independence==
In 1961, Ciskei became a separate administrative region, and in 1972, was declared self-governing under the rule of [[Thandathu Jongilizwe Mabandla|Chief Justice Mabandla]], who was then followed by [[Lennox Sebe]]. Mabandla was a [[Fengu]], a group that had allied itself with the British in the [[Xhosa Wars|frontier wars]], and were better educated as a result of historically embracing colonial education. Further embittered by the policies of "retribalisation" by the apartheid authorities, the [[Rharhabe]] became resentful, and asserted their position, which culminated in the election of Sebe<ref name="ucPressRiseofSebe">{{cite web|url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft158004rs&chunk.id=d0e9803&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e9714&brand=ucpress|title=The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa|website=publishing.cdlib.org|access-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812063341/https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft158004rs&chunk.id=d0e9803&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e9714&brand=ucpress|archive-date=12 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>—although Sebe later abandoned his anti-Fengu rhetoric.<ref name="ucSebeChangesTune">{{cite web|url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft158004rs&chunk.id=d0e9884&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e9714&brand=ucpress|title=The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa|website=publishing.cdlib.org|access-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812044031/https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft158004rs&chunk.id=d0e9884&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e9714&brand=ucpress|archive-date=12 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1978, it became a single-party state under the rule of Sebe. In 1981, following an [[1980 Ciskei independence referendum|independence referendum]] in 1980, it became the fourth homeland to be declared independent by the South African government, and its residents lost their South African citizenship. However, there were no [[border control]]s between South Africa and Ciskei.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Black people who were found to be living without permits in white areas or farms in South Africa, often for generations, were forcibly relocated to Ciskei by apartheid authorities, generally from "black spots" in the neighbouring "white corridor",<ref name="nytMisery"/> and moved into squalid resettlement camps.<ref name="Resettlement and Ethnicity">{{cite web|url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft158004rs&chunk.id=d0e9824&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e9714&brand=ucpress|title=The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa|website=publishing.cdlib.org|access-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812092310/https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft158004rs&chunk.id=d0e9824&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e9714&brand=ucpress|archive-date=12 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> A 1983 study by [[Rhodes University]] found that 40% of the children in one camp suffered from [[wasting]] caused by [[malnutrition]], and 10% suffered from [[kwashiorkor]].<ref name="nytMisery"/> In another camp at [[Thornhill, Enoch Mgijima|Thornhill]], 50% of the children died before the age of 5.<ref name="nytMisery">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/25/magazine/misery-in-a-south-african-homeland.html|title=MISERY IN A SOUTH AFRICAN 'HOMELAND'|first=Joseph|last=Lelyveld|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=25 September 1983|access-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205182746/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/25/magazine/misery-in-a-south-african-homeland.html|archive-date=5 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Typhoid]] epidemics also broke out in the resettlement camps, which were often isolated, located far from urban areas, and lacked health facilities, sanitation, and schools.<ref name="cWhiteDissertation"/> The forced relocations of blacks to the Ciskei resulted in high population densities in the homeland, a situation that persists to the present day.<ref name="mTechCart"/>

On several occasions, the Ciskei government imposed [[collective punishment]] on communities that opposed its rule, and people fled the Bantustan back into South Africa proper, because of the harassment and denial of government services to dissenters.<ref name="trcCharlesSebeReportV2Ch5">{{cite web|url=http://sabctrc.saha.org.za/reports/volume2/chapter5/subsection20.htm?t=+sebe++charles&tab=report|title=Truth Commission – Special Report – TRC Final Report – Volume 2, Section 1, Chapter|website=sabctrc.saha.org.za|access-date=18 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818064326/http://sabctrc.saha.org.za/reports/volume2/chapter5/subsection20.htm?t=%2Bsebe+%2Bcharles&tab=report|archive-date=18 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

In common with other Bantustans, its [[List of historical unrecognized states|independence was not recognised]] by the [[international community]]. Sebe once claimed that the [[Israel|State of Israel]] had granted official recognition to Ciskei, but the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israeli Foreign Ministry]] denied this.<ref>Sasha Polakow-Suransky, ''The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa'', (New York: Pantheon Books), 2010, p. 157.</ref>

===Ciskei–Transkei hostilities and ''Operation Katzen''===
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Ciskei–Transkei conflict
| place             = Ciskei & [[Transkei]]
| date              = 1986–1987
| result            = Clashes ended
| combatant1        = {{flag icon|Ciskei}} Ciskei 
| combatant2        = {{flag|Transkei}} <br> {{flag icon|Ciskei}} Ciskei dissidents 
| commander1        = {{flag icon|Ciskei}} [[Lennox Sebe]]
| commander2        ={{unbulleted list|{{flag icon|Transkei}} [[George Matanzima]]| {{flag icon|Ciskei}} [[Charles Sebe]]}}
}}
In 1986 and 1987,<ref name="trc-2-5-22">{{cite web|url=http://sabctrc.saha.org.za/reports/volume2/chapter5/subsection22.htm?t=+Operation++Katzen&tab=report|title=Truth Commission – Special Report – TRC Final Report – Volume 2, Section 1, Chapter 5, Subsection 22|website=sabctrc.saha.org.za|access-date=9 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909102934/http://sabctrc.saha.org.za/reports/volume2/chapter5/subsection22.htm?t=%2BOperation+%2BKatzen&tab=report|archive-date=9 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Transkei, a larger, wealthier, and more populous entity, undertook a series of military raids<ref name="trc-2-5-21">{{cite web|url=http://sabctrc.saha.org.za/reports/volume2/chapter5/subsection21.htm?t=+Operation++Katzen&tab=report|title=Truth Commission – Special Report – TRC Final Report – Volume 2, Section 1, Chapter 5, Subsection 21|website=sabctrc.saha.org.za|access-date=9 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909102903/http://sabctrc.saha.org.za/reports/volume2/chapter5/subsection21.htm?t=%2BOperation+%2BKatzen&tab=report|archive-date=9 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> on Ciskei,<ref name="ucPressCiskeivsTranskei"/><ref name="ucThreatTranskei">{{cite web|url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft158004rs&chunk.id=d0e9922&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e9714&brand=ucpress|title=The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa|website=publishing.cdlib.org|access-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812044002/https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft158004rs&chunk.id=d0e9922&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e9714&brand=ucpress|archive-date=12 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nytAtOdds">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/20/world/pretoria-puzzle-homelands-at-odds.html|title=PRETORIA PUZZLE: 'HOMELANDS' AT ODDS|author=Alan Cowell|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=20 October 1986|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819065959/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/20/world/pretoria-puzzle-homelands-at-odds.html|archive-date=19 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> and attempted to seize control of Ciskei. One of these raids was an attack on leader Lennox Sebe's compound, with the apparent goal of taking him hostage, in order to force a merger of the two Bantustans.<ref name="waPoHomelandsDoBattle">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/02/20/2-south-african-homelands-do-battle/a6765fb9-de59-4ad1-bdb0-06c78e7e501c/|title=2 SOUTH AFRICAN 'HOMELANDS' DO BATTLE|date=20 February 1987|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812085710/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/02/20/2-south-african-homelands-do-battle/a6765fb9-de59-4ad1-bdb0-06c78e7e501c/|archive-date=12 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Transkei had previously granted sanctuary to Lennox Sebe's estranged brother, [[Charles Sebe|Charles]], the former head of Ciskei's security forces, who had been imprisoned in Ciskei on charges of sedition,<ref name="nytMisery"/><ref name="charlesSebeImprisonedSAHistoryOnline">{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/former-commander-armed-forces-ciskei-major-general-charles-sebe-imprisoned|title=Former commander of the armed forces of the Ciskei, Major-General Charles Sebe is imprisoned|date=16 March 2011|publisher=South African History Online|access-date=18 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818062830/http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/former-commander-armed-forces-ciskei-major-general-charles-sebe-imprisoned|archive-date=18 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> in addition to previously kidnapping Lennox Sebe's son.<ref name="laTimesCommandosSeize">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-27-mn-10394-story.html|title=Commandos Storm S. Africa Homeland, Free Coup Leader, Seize President's Son|first=MICHAEL|last=PARKS|date=27 September 1986|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819043034/http://articles.latimes.com/1986-09-27/news/mn-10394_1_homeland|archive-date=19 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The South African government ostensibly intervened to warn the Transkei government off.<ref name="ucPressCiskeivsTranskei"/> However, during a later meeting of the [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]], it was revealed that the plan to amalgamate the Transkei and Ciskei into a proposed ''Xhosaland'', as well as the freeing of Charles Sebe from prison, had been carried out by South African security forces linked to the [[Civil Cooperation Bureau]], in order to consolidate an anti-[[African National Congress|ANC]] front in the Eastern Cape region, as part of the abortive ''Operation Katzen''.<ref name="sapaTRCKatzen">{{cite web|url=http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media%5C1999%5C9904/s990407d.htm|title=AMNESTY APPLICATION OF FORMER TOP EASTERN CAPE SECURITY POLICEMAN|website=justice.gov.za|agency=South African Press Association|access-date=7 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303203549/http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media/1999/9904/s990407d.htm|archive-date=3 March 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="sapaIntelligenceChiefKatzen">{{cite web|url=http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media%5C1999%5C9904/s990406c.htm|title=INTELLIGENCE CHIEF SPEAKS OUT ON OPERATION KATZEN|website=justice.gov.za|agency=South African Press Association|access-date=7 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303203607/http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media/1999/9904/s990406c.htm|archive-date=3 March 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="trc-6-3-1-26">{{cite web|url=http://sabctrc.saha.org.za/reports/volume6/section3/chapter1/subsection26.htm?t=+Operation++Katzen&tab=report|title=Truth Commission – Special Report – TRC Final Report – Volume 6, Section 3, Chapter 1, Subsection 26|website=sabctrc.saha.org.za|access-date=9 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909102914/http://sabctrc.saha.org.za/reports/volume6/section3/chapter1/subsection26.htm?t=%2BOperation+%2BKatzen&tab=report|archive-date=9 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="sabcTrcKatzenGlossary">{{cite web|url=http://sabctrc.saha.org.za/glossary/operation_katzen.htm?tab=report|title=Truth Commission – Special Report – Glossary: Operation Katzen|website=sabctrc.saha.org.za|access-date=9 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909100356/http://sabctrc.saha.org.za/glossary/operation_katzen.htm?tab=report|archive-date=9 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Coup d'état==
{{main|1990 Ciskei coup d'état}}
In 1990, Brigadier [[Oupa Gqozo]] deposed Sebe and ruled as a [[dictator]]—despite an initial promise of a swift return to civilian rule. During 1991 and 1992, many of the legal foundations of apartheid in South Africa were removed, undermining the rationale for the homelands' continued existence. The [[African National Congress]] pressed strongly for them to be reincorporated into South Africa. This was opposed by Gqozo and the other homeland leaders.

===Bisho massacre===
{{main|Bisho massacre}}
On 7 September 1992, the [[Ciskei Defence Force]] fired into a crowd of ANC members  (led by [[Ronnie Kasrils]], [[Cyril Ramaphosa]], and [[Chris Hani]]) who demanded the reincorporation of Ciskei into South Africa.<ref name=FM_KASRILS_B&B_1>
{{cite web
 |title       = A Decade of Democracy: What if Boipatong and Bisho had not happened?
 |author      = Ronnie Kasrils
 |author-link      = Ronnie Kasrils
 |work   = Financial Mail
 |date        = 2004-05-07
 |access-date  = 2010-12-22
 |url         = http://free.financialmail.co.za/projects/democracy/zzdemd.htm
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://archive.today/20130421213302/http://free.financialmail.co.za/projects/democracy/zzdemd.htm
 |archive-date = 21 April 2013}}
</ref><ref name=GL_INTELFINGER_1>
{{cite web
  | title = Evidence that Ciskei massacre was planned
  | publisher = GreenLeft
  | date = 1992-09-30
  | access-date = 2010-12-22
  | url = http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/2966
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101025094737/http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/2966
  | archive-date = 25 October 2010
  | url-status = live  }}
</ref> 28 people were killed, and hundreds injured in the massacre outside the sports stadium in Bisho, the small capital of Ciskei.<ref name=FM_KASRILS_B&B_1 /><ref name=GL_INTELFINGER_1 />
{{SouthAfrica state}}

==Annexation==
Gqozo refused to participate in the [[negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa|negotiations]] to agree to a [[interim Constitution (South Africa)|post-apartheid constitution]] for South Africa, and initially threatened to boycott the first non-racial elections. This became unsustainable, and in March 1994, Ciskei government workers went on strike for fear of losing their job security and pensions in the post-apartheid era. The police then mutinied, prompting Gqozo to resign on 22 March. The [[Transitional Executive Council]] (TEC) appointed two administrators, who took control of the homeland to ensure security until the elections could be held the following month. The TEC also blocked the South African government from deploying the paramilitary Internal Stability Unit (ISU) of the South African Police force, as the unit was suspected of fomenting violence in other parts of the country after the Ciskei military had threatened to open fire on the ISU if it entered the territory.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

On 27 April 1994, Ciskei and all of the other homelands were reincorporated into South Africa, after the first post-[[apartheid]] elections. Along with Transkei, Ciskei became part of the new [[Eastern Cape Province]], with its capital becoming the capital of the new province, and the former territory of the Ciskei forming parts of the [[Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality]], the [[Chris Hani District Municipality]], and the [[Amathole District Municipality]]—as of 2016.<ref name="mTechCart"/>

==Economy==
According to historian [[Quinn Slobodian]], Ciskei, on the suggestion of a group of economists led by South African [[Leon Louw]]—called the "supply siders of Ciskei" by the ''[[Financial Times]]'' --, was operated as a ''de facto'' [[export processing zone]] of South Africa. Its economy was centered around the textile industry, with a majority female workforce, and was reliant on Taiwanese and Hong Kong investors, generous investor incentives by the South African government (including paying the wages of their employees, subsidizing 80% of their factories' rents, and not charging corporate tax), and repression of the labour movement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Slobodian |first=Quinn |date=23 March 2023 |title=The Ciskei experiment: a libertarian fantasy in apartheid South Africa |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/mar/23/the-ciskei-experiment-a-libertarian-fantasy-in-apartheid-south-africa |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=8 September 2024}}</ref>

==Districts in 1991==
Districts of the province, and their populations at the 1991 census.<ref name=BSTNdist>{{cite web|title=Census > 1991 > Ciskei > Variable Description > ... > District code|url=http://interactive.statssa.gov.za:8282/webview/|publisher=Statistics South Africa – Nesstar WebView|access-date=18 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160619202856/http://interactive.statssa.gov.za:8282/webview/|archive-date=19 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
* [[Alice, South Africa|Alice]]: 43,452 
* [[Whittlesea, South Africa|Whittlesea]]: 50,199 
* [[Keiskammahoek]]: 32,740 
* [[Mdantsane]]: 105,117 
* [[Middledrift]]: 37,979 
* [[Peddie, South Africa|Peddie]]: 52,245 
* [[Zwelitsha]]: 142,779 
* [[Mpofu]]: 13,056

==Law enforcement and defence==
* Founded in 1981, the [[Ciskei Defence Force]] consisted of two battalions and an air wing.
* [[Ciskei Police]]
* [[Ciskei Police – Law Enforcement Division]]
* [[Ciskei Prisons Service]]
* [[Ciskei Traffic Force]]

==Notable persons==

*[[Ngconde Balfour]] – former South African politician, served as Minister of Correctional Services, and Minister of Sport.
*[[Steve Biko]] – former political activist, founder and the president of [[Black Consciousness Movement]].
*[[Oupa Gqozo]] – former Ciskeian President, and military head of state.
*[[Thandathu Jongilizwe Mabandla]] – former Ciskeian President, and Ciskeian Chief Justice.
*[[Shepherd Mdladlana]] – former minister of labour, politician, and [[South African High Commissioner to Canada]].
*[[Raymond Mhlaba]] –  former South African politician and leader of the [[ANC]] and [[SACP]] and the first [[Premier of the Eastern Cape]] 1994–1997.
*[[Wilton Mkwayi]] – former anti-apartheid activist, and member of [[ANC]].
*[[Griffiths Mxenge]] – former political activist, and member of ANC.
*[[Bulelani Ngcuka]] – former NPA director (1999–2004).
*[[Looksmart Ngudle]] – former political activist, and member of ANC.
*[[Lennox Sebe]] – former Ciskeian President and dictator.
*[[Charles Sebe]] – former Ciskeian acting president and murder victim.
*[[Archie Sibeko]] – former anti-apartheid activist, and member of ANC.
*[[Robert Sobukwe]] – former political activist and the founder of [[Pan Africanist Congress of Azania|PAC]]. 
*[[Moses Twebe]] – former anti-apartheid activist, and member of ANC.

==See also==
* [[Transkei]]
* [[Fengu people]]
* [[List of heads of state of Ciskei]]
* [[Vice President of Ciskei]]
* [[Ciskei Defence Force]]
* [[Bisho massacre]]
* [[Ciskei International Airways]]

==Books==
* Mager, A.K. (1999) ''Gender and the Making of a South African Bantustan: A Social History of the Ciskei, 1945&ndash;1959'', Heinemann.
* Switzer, L. (1993) ''Power and Resistance in an African Society: The Ciskei Xhosa and the Making of South Africa'', University of Wisconsin Press.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|Ciskei}}
{{commons}}
* [http://www.ciskei.com Ciskei &ndash; general information]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060908061103/http://www.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v5/v5i3a4.htm African Studies Quarterly]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110606173430/http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/places/villages/easternCape/ciskei.htm South African history site]
* [http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/southafrica/ciskei.html WHKMLA site]
* [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft158004rs&doc.view=content&chunk.id=d0e9714&toc.depth=1&anchor.id=0&brand=eschol Creation of tribalism in Ciskei]
* [http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j13/aerofotoworld3/FS3/ciskei990a.jpg Ciskei International Airways CV-990]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLX_XlZ1wKA Video showing a GIS time animation of the assembly of Ciskei]

{{SA-Bantustans}}
{{South African Governments|state=collapsed}}
{{Political history of South Africa}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ciskei| ]]
[[Category:Bantustans in South Africa]]
[[Category:Former countries in Africa]]
[[Category:Former republics]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1972]]
[[Category:1972 establishments in South Africa]]
[[Category:1994 disestablishments in South Africa]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1994]]