 After her mother moved with the children to Pietersburg (now Polokwane) in the Transvaal (now Gauteng), Forsyth attended Capricorn Primary and Capricorn High School, where she matriculated in 1977 and was awarded honours with academic distinction.She was a school prefect and house captain as well as a member of the Pietersburg Junior Town Council.From 1978 to 1980 Forsyth attended the University of the Witwatersrand, graduating with a double major in English and Afrikaans-Nederlands and a sub major in Zulu, she also studied German.