Nyawose's family were activists and her father was involved in the African National Congress (ANC).[1] Nyawose was married to Petrus Nyawose, and both were very involved with the Black Allied Workers Union (BAWU).[2] The couple had four children together, the second youngest of whom often spent time at the BAWU headquarters.[2][3] Later, in exile, they had a fourth child.[1]
Nyawose was recruited to act as a contact for two cells of the underground ANC, one run by Dhaya Pillay and the other by Shadrack Maphumulo.[2] When Maphumulo was arrested in 1977, Nyawose and others involved worried they would be found out.[2] Nyawose and her family went into exile, first crossing in to Botswana and then moving to Swaziland.[1] They joined the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) that was active in Swaziland.[1]
On 4 June 1982, Nyawose and her husband were killed when a car bomb exploded outside their house in Matsapha, near Manzini, Swaziland.[4] Their three children witnessed the explosion and one, Nonzamo, testified about their death for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.[3] The death was found to be sanctioned by the South African Government.[3]
Nyawose was posthumously awarded a silver Order of Luthuli in 2015.[5]