Mxolisi was born and raised in Ladysmith, a town in north western KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He attended Keate Street Public Schools in his primary school years and matriculated at Ladysmith Secondary School. In 2008, he went on to work at a small landscaping company in Ladysmith and in 2009 he enrolled at the University of Zululand (Ongoye) to undertake a four-year BSc in Botany and Geography. In 2012, upon completion of his degree, Mxolisi was recruited as a SANBI Groen Sebenza intern for Wildlands.
During his two-year-long internship, Mxolisi was responsible for compiling Community Based Ecosystem Adaptation (CEBA) reports for the projects implemented by Wildlands and was subsequently absorbed as a full-time employee at the organisation. He was a Project Coordinator for the Parthenium Project for two years and was then promoted to the position of Strategic Manager for Wildlands’ Greening Your Future programme, which is the position held today.
Mxolisi has been employed at Wildlands for seven years now and his focus embodies his passion, which involves invasive alien plant removal projects. Most importantly, he likes to work on the projects that benefit the local community and the nation as a whole.
The Working for Water programme has provided Mxolisi the platform to work in the field he loves. He is kept busy between the administrative tasks, travelling, and coordination of activities involved in carrying out his job. As a bonus, he enjoys learning about other cultures and practices from neighbourhoods different to his own.