Gift was born in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe. He is a holder of a BSc Hons degree in Chemical Technology from the Midlands State University in Zimbabwe. Gift completed his Doctoral studies at the University of Cape Town in 2014. His research focused on the preparation of novel metal-organic frameworks for application in sensing of small molecules through visible colour changes. Gift has won several international prestigious scholarships and grants such as the Ludo Frevel Crystallography Scholarship (2012 and 2014) and the African German Network of Excellence in Science (2015). Gift is also a recipient of the PhosAgro/IUPAC/UNESCO research grant (2018) which allows him to carry out research that addresses some of the principles of green chemistry. 

Gift is a Future -Leaders African Independent Research fellow at Midlands State University. This fellowship is for talented African early career researchers who have the potential to become leaders in their field. These fellowships provide the opportunity to build an independent research career in a sub-Saharan African institution and to undertake cutting-edge scientific research that will address global challenges facing developing countries.

Dr Mehlana’s research is centred on developing new materials that can be used for catalysis, sensing and in drug delivery. Dr Mehlana is the current president of the Zimbabwe Chemical Society. The society aims to promote the advancement of chemicals sciences in Zimbabwe and beyond. Furthermore, Mehlana is also a member of the Executive Committee of the African Crystallographic Association Steering Committee which aims to advance crystallographic oriented research in Africa.