The Sandile Medal was instituted by the President of the Republic of Ciskei in 1988, for award to all ranks for meritorious service.

[1] The medal was named after King Sandile kaNgqika, who had been declared as deposed and a fugitive by Major General Sir Henry George Wakelyn Smith Bt GCB, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Cape of Good Hope, after he refused to attend a meeting with Smith outside Fort Cox in December 1850.

[1] The Sandile Medal is a medallion struck in silver, 38 millimetres in diameter and without a raised rim, displaying the eagle emblem of the Ciskei Defence Force in a laurel wreath.

[3][10] The reverse, also without a raised rim, displays the Coat of Arms of the Republic of Ciskei, with the silver hallmark impressed beneath.

[10] Conferment of the Sandile Medal was discontinued when the Republic of Ciskei ceased to exist on 27 April 1994.