Josiah Gumede was born in Bembesi, in the
Bubi District (now in
Matabeleland North) of
Southern Rhodesia. He was educated at the
David Livingstone Memorial Mission and Matopo Mission before matriculating in the
Cape Province (South Africa) in 1946. He taught at various mission and government schools and ended his teaching career as a headmaster. He was the assistant information and education attache for the Government of
Rhodesia and Nyasaland at Rhodesia House in London between 1960 and 1962, before being appointed First Secretary in the office of the Commissioner for Rhodesia and Nyasaland in Nairobi. He then joined the Ministry of External Affairs (1963–1965). He was at one time general secretary for the then African Teachers' Association of
Rhodesia; a member of the Wankie Disaster Relief Fund's Board of Trustees; a director of the Tribal Trust Land Development Corporation; and a board member of the National Free Library of Rhodesia. He was also an ordained elder of the
Presbyterian Church of South Africa. Gumede was the grandfather of British television actress,
Natalie Gumede. == Awards ==