At the age of two Mautloa's family relocated to Soweto and later attended Morris Isaacson High School. In 1969, while in High School, he began studying visual arts at Jubilee Art Center and the following year at Mofolo Park Arts Centre where he continued his studies for the next five years. He was awarded a bursary which he accepted, after his involvement in the Soweto Uprisings, to study at ELC Rorke's Drift Art and Craft Centre in 1978 for two years and studied under Dan Rakgoathe. Following his education he worked as a graphic designer and a professor at Mofolo Park Arts Centre and at Federated Union of Black Artists Arts Centre (FUBA). In 1981 Mautloa started as a banker and worked for SABC, but quit to become an artist.