The leading Ndebele writer and historian, Pathisa Nyathi, is the fifth generation of his family lineage.  He was born on the 10^th of July 1951 in Kezi, Matobo district in Matabeleland South region. He went through primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions that include Sankonjana Primary school in Matobo district from 1958 to 1962, Tuli where he did standard 4 in 1963, Mazowe High school in Mashonaland Central from 1967 to 1970 where he did his secondary education. In 1976 he did his A levels majoring in Geography and Biology through distance education.  He sat for the A Level exams at Mzilikazi High School. He later trained as a secondary school teacher at Gweru Teachers’ College majoring in science from 1971 and obtained a certificate in education in 1973.  In 1978 he enrolled with University of South Africa (UNISA) majoring in Geography and Development Administration.  In 1982 he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and in 1985 a BA (Hon) from the same university. He has taught at a number of schools and a college in the country. Presently he works for the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture responsible for non – formal education, early childhood education and care, arts and culture.

As a writer he has a lot of his books to his name among them school textbooks and as a historian he has published Igugu LikaMthwakazi – Imbali YamaNdebele 1820 – 1893, Uchuku Olungelandiswe 1893 – 1895 and Madoda Lolani Incukuthu – Imbali YamaNdebele 1896. 

He is also a columnists for The Sunday News (Cultural heritage), The Sunday Mirror (View from Bulawayo) and The Daily Mirror (Giya Mthwakazi).

As a traditional or cultural preservationist, Nyathi, has published Traditional Ceremonies of AmaNdebele and Material Culture of AmaNdebele.

As a committed writer and cultural worker, Nyathi sees a tomorrow where Zimbabweans will respect their cultural past and regards the degradation of traditions as a passing phenomenon.  Most of his publications are in Ndebele.  His argument in writing in Ndebele is that it enables constant development of the language to achieve a rich cultural heritage for future generations.  He is married to Elizabeth and they have three children, 2 girls – Sikhanyisiwe and Fikile and one boy, Butholezwe.