In her teens, she joined a girl group named The Sweet Voices, which was spotted performing at a wedding by talent scout Rupert Bopape.
[2] At 17, she signed a contract with Bopape, then a producer for EMI South Africa, and began composing and recording for the inaugural line-up of the Dark City Sisters and a young Simon Nkabinde, not yet famous as Mahlathini.
[3] In 1962, she moved to Troubadour Records and joined the popular female group The Sweet Sixteens, as well as backing artists including Dixie Kwankwa and Mabel Mafuya.
[3][4][5] Artists were initially forbidden to compose songs in Tshivenda and Xitsonga, which were considered unmarketable languages by the commercial recording industry.
[3] During this era, Mawela was a major contributor to the development of mbaqanga music,[1] alongside soul, disco, maskandi and gospel recordings.