Born in Mazoe and schooled at Mabvuku near Harare, he started becoming interested in the arts at a young age.

He was introduced to stone sculpture by Naison Kamumpampe and worked with the Utonga Studio in Tafara with the assistance of Webster and Luxon Gutsa.  They all worked together and also tried to encourage young people in the vicinity to try their hand at sculpting.

Raphael see’s each stone as a sculpture, which itself inspires him to create them, working mostly in hard stones, such as Dolomite and Limestone.