Mahola was born and raised in the city of Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. She attended Trinity High School (which later amalgamated into St Dominic's Priory School).
In her final year at high school, she worked as receptionist at Makro during weekends and school holidays. She grew up on Ntshekisa Street, a long and busy street in New Brighton, a township on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth. She stayed with her dad and younger sister between 1999 and 2001. In 2011, Zolani and Freshlyground gave a free concert on Ntshekisa Street as part of their 10th birthday tour.
While studying a Theatre and Performance degree at the University of Cape Town, she was cast in the lead role in the television drama Tsha-Tsha, which aired on SABC 1.Mahola voiced the character of Zoë in the animated feature film Zambezia (2012), and also recorded the song "Get Up" for the original motion picture soundtrack.
