Zanemvula Mda was born in Herschel, South Africa in 1948. He studied in South Africa, Lesotho and the United Kingdom. He worked in these nations as well.

When he started publishing, he adopted the pen name of Zakes Mda. In addition to writing novels and plays, he has taught English and creative writing in South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Most recently, he came to the United States, where he became a professor in the English Department at University of Ohio in Athens, Ohio. He has been a visiting professor at Yale and the University of Vermont.

Mda's first novel, Ways of Dying, takes place during the transitional years that marked South Africa's transformation into a democratic nation. It follows the character of Toloki. After finding himself destitute, he invents a profession as a "Professional Mourner." He traverses the violent urban landscape of an unnamed [South African] city, finding an old love amidst the internecine fighting present in the townships and squatter settlements.

The Heart of Redness, Mda's third novel, is inspired by the history of Nongqawuse, a Xhosa prophetess whose prophecies catalyzed the Cattle Killing of 1856-1857. Xhosa culture split between Believers and Unbelievers, adding to existing social strain, famine and social breakdown. It is believed that 20,000 people died of starvation during that time. In the novel, Mda continually shifts back and forth between the present day and the time of Nongqawuse to show the complex interplay between history and myth. He dramatizes the uncertain future of a culture whose troubled relationship with the colonizing force of Empire, as well as their own civil factions, threatens to extinguish their home of Qolorha-by-Sea.