Jabulani Sam Nhlengethwa was born on 9 January 1955 in the Payneville township of Springs, Gauteng, (formerly Transvaal) South Africa. Forced removals in the area made his family relocate to Kwa-Themba. He spent much of his childhood there as well as in Ratanda, Heidelberg with his grandmother. He attended the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC) Art and Craft Centre at Rorke’s Drift and studied at the Johannesburg Art Foundation.
Nhlengethwa cofounded the Bag Factory Artists’ Studio in Johannesburg in 1991, mainly to provide studio space to black artists who had little access to artistic resources. He won the Standard Bank Young Artist award in 1994. 
Nhlengethwa has exhibited around South Africa as well as in Germany, France, the United States, Botswana and elsewhere. Collections at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, the Iziko South African National Gallery, the Durban Art Gallery and other institutions include his work. (South African History Online)