Mandla Tshabalala was born in 1974 June 20th in Johannesburg, South Africa. He attended school up to sub A, then left the country with his mother to go to Botswana, where he completed the rest of his schooling (Cambridge level).
He lived and worked in Botswana until 2003 and came back to South Africa 2004. He was self-employed for a year, then volunteered as a Gardner in Siyakhana Permaculture food garden for 8 months in 2005. Then Food and Trees for Africa sent Tshabalala to a Permaculture course in the Free State Provence. On returning from the course, Tshabalala was employed by the Siyakhana project in collaboration with Wits University.
The project had been allocated land by City Parks, on lease. It was a dump site. With the education gained from the course and providence, Tshabalala turned the dump into an inspiring healthy food garden. In 2007 he was blessed with a trip to Germany to attend a course in Eco-village Design, which helped bring more light on Permaculture and blessings to the community at large.
Tshabalala is currently with the project and managing the food garden and its activities. The project has enjoyed media coverage, research from oversea Universities, and local institutes. Diverse groups of tourists and government officials have visited the project. Employment has been offered to some locals and now the project is having a national impact on policies around food security and employment.