Netshitenzhe was born on 21 December 1956[1] in Sibasa, Northern Transvaal, a village in what became the bantustan of Venda and, after the end of apartheid, became the Limpopo province.
[2] He attended medical school at the University of Natal, but dropped out at age twenty to join the African National Congress (ANC) in exile.
He received military training (with Umkhonto weSizwe) in Angola until 1978, and then, remaining in exile, worked as a journalist at the ANC's Radio Freedom.
[5] At the same time, between 1984 and 1990, Netshitenzhe was head of the ANC's information and propaganda department, becoming, in Ferial Haffajee's phase, the organisation's "ultimate spin doctor".
[3] When Jacob Zuma replaced Mbeki as President in 2009, Netshitenzhe became Director General of PCAS, in which capacity he was responsible for formulating policy alongside Minister Trevor Manuel, who oversaw the National Planning Commission.
[4] He also served on the boards of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Life Healthcare Group,[4] was a visiting professor at the Wits School of Governance,[12] and was executive director and vice chairperson at the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection, a South African think tank.