Zamani Xaba was born in 1980 in Durban in a township called Umlazi, and developed a love for visual art from a young age

In 2001 he attended Saturday art classes at the Durban Institute of Technology, and participated in various art exhibitions which were mostly held at the Durban art Gallery.

During 2004 and 2005 Zamani completed a two year diploma in Art & Design, and in 2006 he was introduced to cartooning by Sifiso Yalo.

In 2007/8 he worked as freelance cartoonist for Umafrika Newspaper, signing his work as Xaba.

Zamani Xaba has also worked for The Sowetan Newspaper, filling in for Yalo when he's been on on leave.