Tshabalala was born in East London South Africa and was raised in Malvern Johannesburg. Her love for fine art arose in high school and began with an introduction to printmaking and darkroom photography at a community art center in Kliptown Soweto under the mentorship of Victor Matom and the late Dumisani Mabaso. This was followed by a more hands on industry orientated practice of printmaking at Artist Proof Studio in Newtown Johannesburg. With a background in graphic design Mbali went on to complete a Diploma in Fine Arts at the Tshwane University of Technology in 2015, where she is currently completing the practical component of her B-Tech, an installation which explores the influence and role of a curator towards an artist, from making, viewing and publishing art. Tshabalala`s work in Curating began in 2015 when she took up work at Art lovers 1932 in Waterkloof Pretoria, having curated shows for artists working in both historical and contemporary contexts, from Maureen Quinn to Kobus Rossouw, Katlego Modiri, Will Roux, Craig Muller, Carl Jeppe, including Tshwane University of Technology Graduate shows.
She has also curated shows in galleries in and around Johannesburg including as assistant to artist Wayne Barker for a show in Paris early in 2017, currently Tshabalala is working on an exhibition at August House to open on the 30th July 2017 which will consist of an array of Pan African artists. Mbali is the founder of Anecdotes Gallery and Project Space which was launched in August 2017 at One Eloff in Johannesburg South Africa. She is currently the Wendy Fisher Assistant Curator of Books and Works on Paper at the Zeitz MOCAA (Museum of Contemporary Art Africa) in Cape Town.