Tlaleng Mofokeng

Tlaleng Mofokeng is a South African physician who is the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health. She campaigns for universal health access and HIV care. She was named one of the BBC's 100 Women in 2021.

Early life and education Mofokeng was born in QwaQwa. She was an undergraduate student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine. She graduated in 2007, and worked as a medical doctor in the Gauteng Health Department.

Career Mofokeng worked at Higher Education and Training HIV/AIDS Program (HEAIDS) on an educational video series to mitigate HIV in South Africa. She also presented medical documentaries for Al Jazeera. In 2015, Mofokeng joined International SOS, where she was responsible for medical care in Johannesburg. In this capacity, she served as Chair of the Sexual and Reproductive Justice Coalition of South Africa.

Mofokeng has focused on gender equality, neonatal health, and the management of HIV. She was made the country lead of Global Doctors for Choice in 2017 and Commissioner for Gender Equality in 2019. She has taken on domestic violence in court, making use of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

In July 2020, Mofokeng was appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health. She is the first woman and first African to hold this position. She was appointed to the board of directors of the International Partnership for Microbicides in 2021, and serves as Distinguished Lecturer at Georgetown University.

Mofokeng usually goes under the title "Dr. T". Her first book, Dr. T: A Guide to Sexual Health and Pleasure, a bestseller, was published by Picador in 2021. The Sunday Sun wrote, "the magic is contained in its warm, motherly, vulnerable and non-judgmental delivery".

Mofokeng is an advocate for universal health access and adolescent health. She serves as an advisor of the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health Gender & Health Hub.

She was one of the many UN experts who spoke out against the sale of arms to Israel in June 2024 as a result of the conflict in Gaza. The experts cautioned arms suppliers and finance companies that they would be implicated in human rights violations. The signatories to the warning included special rapporteurs Paula Gaviria Betancur, Margaret Satterthwaite, and Francesca Albanese.

Recent activities (2024–2025) In June 2025, Mofokeng completed her term as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health. During her final presentation to the Human Rights Council, she focused on the role of health and care workers within a human-rights-based approach to health systems.

She examined issues related to access to healthcare and national health policy in Chile from November to December 2024. Professional conduct proceedings In October 2025, the Health Professions Council of South Africa found Mofokeng guilty of unprofessional conduct related to language used on social media and fined her after she called NGO UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer a "bastard" and "evil scum". The Council's decision prompted public responses from political organisations, including the Economic Freedom Fighters, which criticised the ruling.

Other activities Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Member of the Advisory Group of the Goalkeepers Initiative (since 2022)

Awards and honours 2016: Mail & Guardian One of the top 200 Young South Africans 2016: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 120 Under 40 Leader 2021: BBC 100 Women