Tsietsi Mashinini was born on 27 January 1957 in Central Western Jabavu, Soweto, South Africa. He was married to Welma Redd. He died in 1990 in Conakry, Guinea.
Died sometime in the summer of 1990 under mysterious circumstances, possibly either homicide or an AIDS-related illness. A book by Lynda Schuster makes the AIDS claim, and this is supported by Mashinini's family.