Attended high school at St.John’s College in Umtata and studied at the University of Natal’s Medical School. As a student, Dr Mgijima was very active in community development projects in and around Durban, and was founder member of the South African Students Organisation (SASO). African National Congress (ANC) activities and the subsequent Special Branch attention forced him to go to exile two months before sitting for final year examinations at the Medical school. He completed MBCHB at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka Zambia in 1977. He obtained a diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (U.K.).
Dr Mgijima worked as a chief Medical officer/ Managed Hospitals and Districts Services in the Southern African Countries of Angola, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. He was also appointed to direct Health Services for African National Congress (ANC) in various Southern African Countries. Dr Mgijima is accredited for various leadership courses in health services and civil service management. He coordinated the drafting of the ANC Health Policy and contributed to the health section of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) in 1994. He has undertaken many study tours and attended International Conferences throughout the world. In South Africa, he has played a number of roles such as the secretary for the Health of the ANC, Consultant for the Johannesburg City Council, and Superintendent General of Health in Gauteng.
Dr Mgijima has sat on various boards such as SAIMR, Health Policy Coordinating Unit, National Children Rights Committee and the National AIDS Committee of South Africa.
Dr Mgijima was appointed as commissioner resident in Gauteng in 2001.
Currently Dr Mgijima is Deputy Chairperson of the Board of the National Health Laboratory Service, a panel member and a member of the Performance Management for Senior Managers Committee and the AIDS Council respectively for the City of Johannesburg.