She was born in Swart Mfolozi in KwaZulu Natal Province and after training to be a nurse se she secured a job as a translator for Peder and Ulla Gowenius who were in the process of setting up what was to be Rorke's Drift Art and Craft Centre.
She obtained her Junior Certificate (Standard 9), and applied to do nursing training at Ceza Mission Hospital in KwaZulu Natal.
Allina Ndebele addresses a range of topics in her tapestries, often drawing on the oral storytelling tradition inherited from her grandmother.
Ndebele's work encompasses all three, and often features interpretations of Zulu stories told to her by her grandmother, Zihudele MaZulu Mhlongo.
[10] Her largest piece, Nqakamatshe and His Muti Magics [sic] (1999), was commissioned for the MTN Art Collection and measures 200 x 450 cm.
[9] Allina Ndebele's work is held in permanent collections of almost every major South African art museum, as well as internationally, among others in the USA, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Australia:[11] First National Bank Vita Award (1994) Thami Mnyele Institute residence (1998) MTN SA Foundation residence (2001) Order of Ikhamanga in Silver (2005)[13]