Before the 2014 election, she was chief executive officer of the Independent Development Trust for ten years, and she also formerly worked in national and provincial public administration.
[1] She was the fourth child of Gilbert and Ntoni Mkhumane, who were South Africans from Natal province.
[1] She was educated in Swaziland[1] and also spent time in Mozambique and Tanzania, where she was involved in activities of the exiled African National Congress (ANC), including as a manager at the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College.
[5] She was married to Mamabolo Nwedamutswu, whom she met when he joined Umkhonto weSizwe in exile in Swaziland.
[2][7][8] Zweli Mkhize and national ministers Angie Motshekga and Edna Molewa were among those who spoke at her funeral.