From 1960, Madzimbamuto worked as the nurse in charge of Ward B6, the Spinal and Head Injuries Unit, of Harare Hospital.

It declared the Rhodesian government to be illegal, laws and proclamations issued by it to be invalid, and ordered Madzimbamuto's husband to be released.

[1] After leaving school in 1946, Nkolombe worked as a domestic in Sea Point, but found the job unfulfilling.

Because of limited job choices available for blacks in Cape Town, Nkolombe returned there only to show her parents her uniform.

[1][9] During this time she met Daniel Madzimbamuto, who was working in Durban to create interest in the Boswell Wilkie Circus, but was originally from Southern Rhodesia.

[1][10][Notes 1] As Daniel was still working in South Africa, Madzimbamuto journeyed alone by train to meet her in-laws.

[1][12] Matron Houston also assisted her in obtaining housing in New Highfield, which had only outdoor toilet facilities that doubled as a cold-water shower.

He became the chairman of the Highfield Branch of the African National Congress and his activism brought him to the attention of the Rhodesian authorities.

[1] Her work life was very difficult at this time, not just because of the racist attitudes of the government and some of her colleagues, but because her husband was a political prisoner: she was seen as the wife of a "gandanga", meaning terrorist.

[2][15][Notes 2] Upon his release from prison in 1961, Daniel was sent to the Sikombela Restriction Camp in Mapfungautsi near Gokwe Centre, where he remained until 15 January 1963.

[14][18] When he was released, and despite the fact that Madzimbamuto was expecting her third child, Levy encouraged her to continue her education abroad.

[20] Leaving Farai and Chipo with her in-laws in Murehwa and four-month-old Tambudzai in Kenya where her mother and a sister were living, Madzimbamuto went to England in February 1964.

[14] That month, Madzimbamuto left England and spent three weeks in Kenya before returning with her daughter to Southern Rhodesia.

[23][24] Madzimbamuto developed a programme to train junior nurses at Harare Hospital, teaching them what she had learned about neurological and spinal injuries.

[26] In 1973, Madzimbamuto had to obtain a temporary British passport in order to attend the International Congress of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Nurses, which was held in Tokyo.

[35] In April 1964, Ian Smith became Prime Minister of Rhodesia, promising to maintain the policy of white rule.

[53] In 1979, Southern Rhodesia moved toward lawful independence through negotiations carried out in London at the Lancaster House Conference.

[54] In 1982, Madzimbamuto earned a diploma in Nursing Administration and became the night matron at Harare Central Hospital.

[10] To preserve his memory and allow study of people involved in the African nationalist movement, Madzimbamuto donated Daniel's papers in the National Archives of Zimbabwe.

The court ruled that the 2013 constitution allows Zimbabweans by birth to hold dual nationality, and that the immigration department could neither abridge his unconditional right to live in Zimbabwe or require permits that restricted his free movement.

[10][58] Tambudzai earned her teaching degree in Zimbabwe and later became a speech therapist after completing her education in England.

[61][52] Most of the wives of the nationalist detainees were unable to give more than comfort, loyalty, and emotional support to their husbands.

[52][55] Richard Mahomva, a political scientist,[62] and other writers have noted that Madzimbamuto is also remembered as a forerunner to the development of a women's rights movement in the country.