He was a direct descendant of Gundwane Ndiweni, the Ndebele leader of the Nguni group that split from King Mzilikazi.
He attended the 1979 Lancaster House Conference in London, where Zimbabwe's independence from white minority rule was negotiated.
[8] He was an advocate of a federal state for Zimbabwe and a strong critic of the style of governance of Robert Mugabe.
He was later linked to Zimbabwe's main political opposition party, MDC alliance and played a role in its foundation.
Chief Ndiweni and his wife Agnes Masuku were advisors to the founding members of the Movement for Democratic Change.