Jabulane Mabuza was born in February 1958 in the town of Waterval Boven, South Africa. His family was later forcibly resettled in White River on trust land, and Mabuza lived alternatively with his two grandmothers. He later went to live with an aunt in Daveyton. While in junior secondary school, Mabuza was expelled for being caught in the 1976 student protests in Soweto. He graduated in Durban and from 1981 until 1982 attended the University of Limpopo.