From a young woman from Limpopo to UCT medical graduate, doctor, entrepreneur and founder and CEO of CliniMed, Dr Mathobela Matjekane’s journey is one of vision, resilience and purposeful leadership.
This Women’s Month, she reflects on the courage it took to start with one practice in 2008, the lessons she has learnt while building a growing healthcare brand, and why true empowerment means opening the door for the women coming behind you.
Having grown up in Limpopo before studying medicine at UCT, her journey has been shaped by an upbringing that instilled resilience and humility, an education that broadened her perspective, and a medical career that taught her the weight of responsibility. But becoming a doctor was only the beginning. Building a business taught her an entirely different set of lessons, from navigating finances and operations to making difficult decisions without always knowing the outcome.
As a woman leading a growing business, she has also had to navigate the realities of being underestimated, balancing ambition with personal fulfilment and learning that leadership does not require having all the answers. Instead, she believes in building strong teams, leading with both compassion and decisiveness, and allowing her work and results to speak for themselves.
Here, she shares the lessons behind her journey, why women should never make themselves smaller to make others comfortable, why ambition and femininity can coexist, and why the ultimate measure of success is not simply what you build, but the lives you touch and the doors you open for others.
GLAMOUR: Take us back to 2008. What inspired you to take the leap of faith and establish CliniMed, and what did you envision for the business at the time?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: When I opened CliniMed in 2008, my vision was actually quite simple: I wanted to create a healthcare environment where patients felt seen, heard and cared for.
I had trained as a doctor because I genuinely believed in the power of healthcare to change people’s lives. But I also realised that healthcare is about much more than treating someone when they are already sick. It is about prevention, education, early intervention and helping people take ownership of their health.
Starting CliniMed was therefore a leap of faith, but it was also an extension of what I believed healthcare could be. I wanted to build something that was professional and medically sound, but also warm, accessible and patient-centred.
At the time, I couldn’t have imagined how far that first practice would take me. I certainly didn’t have a blueprint for everything CliniMed would become. I simply had a belief in the idea and the courage to start.
GLAMOUR: You are a UCT graduate who hails from Limpopo. How have your upbringing, education and personal experiences shaped the woman and entrepreneur you are today?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: Coming from Limpopo and eventually studying medicine at UCT taught me two very important things: never underestimate where you come from, and never allow where you come from to determine how far you can go.
My upbringing gave me resilience, humility and a strong work ethic. UCT challenged me intellectually and exposed me to people, ideas and opportunities that broadened my perspective. Medicine taught me discipline and accountability. When you are dealing with someone’s health, you learn very quickly that your decisions matter. Entrepreneurship taught me something different: that sometimes there is no textbook, no guaranteed answer and no one coming to tell you what to do next. I think the combination of those experiences shaped me into someone who is ambitious but grounded. I have learned to dream big while still being willing to start small, work hard and learn along the way.
GLAMOUR: Starting a business in healthcare comes with its own unique challenges. What were some of the biggest obstacles you faced in the early days of CliniMed, and how did you overcome them?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: The biggest challenge was probably learning that being a good doctor and being a good business owner are two very different things.
Medicine teaches you how to diagnose problems and treat patients. Entrepreneurship requires you to understand people, finances, operations, marketing, staffing, systems and strategy, often all at the same time.
There were also the challenges that come with building a business from the ground up: limited resources, making mistakes, finding the right people and constantly having to make decisions without knowing exactly what the outcome would be.
I overcame those challenges by being willing to learn. I asked questions, made mistakes, adapted and kept going. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that you don’t need to know everything when you start. You need to be willing to learn what you don’t know.
GLAMOUR: Was there ever a moment when you questioned whether you had made the right decision by choosing entrepreneurship? What kept you going?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: Absolutely. Entrepreneurship can be incredibly lonely because people often see the success but don’t see the uncertainty behind it.
There have been moments when I’ve questioned decisions, especially during difficult periods when the business was under pressure or when something I had invested a lot of time and energy into simply didn’t work.
What kept me going was remembering why I started.I also learned that a difficult season does not necessarily mean you’ve made the wrong decision. Sometimes it simply means you are being challenged to grow.
I have always had a strong belief that if I can see the vision, I have to be willing to keep working towards it - even when the journey looks very different from what I originally imagined.
GLAMOUR: CliniMed has grown significantly since its establishment in 2008 and has recently expanded to Johannesburg. What does this milestone mean to you personally and professionally?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: It is incredibly meaningful because Johannesburg represents much more than another location. It represents the evolution of an idea that started with one practice in 2008. When I look at where we started and where we are today, I feel proud - but I also feel a tremendous sense of responsibility. Expansion means that more people can experience the CliniMed approach to healthcare, but it also means that I have to ensure that our standards, culture and patient experience remain consistent as we grow.
Personally, it is a reminder that growth is possible when you stay committed to your vision. Professionally, it gives me even more motivation to build CliniMed into a healthcare brand that can have a much bigger impact.
GLAMOUR: CliniMed offers much more than traditional primary healthcare, with services spanning dentistry, optometry, aesthetics and weight management. What inspired you to create a more holistic, one-stop approach to healthcare?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: I realised that patients don’t experience their health in separate departments. Someone may come to see you about their weight, but they may also have concerns about their skin, confidence, nutrition, oral health or general wellbeing. These things are interconnected.
I wanted CliniMed to reflect the way people actually think about their health and wellbeing. Our approach is therefore about bringing different aspects of healthcare together while still maintaining medical responsibility and professional standards.
For me, the idea of a one-stop healthcare destination is about convenience, but it is also about continuity. I want patients to feel that they can come to one trusted environment and find solutions that address the whole person.
GLAMOUR: What gap in the healthcare sector did you identify that you felt CliniMed could address differently?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: I felt there was a gap between traditional medical care and the growing desire people have to be proactive about their health and wellbeing.
People want to live healthier lives, manage their weight, take better care of their skin, understand their bodies and age well - but they also want those conversations to happen in a medically responsible environment.I saw an opportunity to bridge those two worlds.
CliniMed has evolved around the idea that healthcare can be clinical and professional while still being modern, accessible and focused on the patient’s overall experience.
GLAMOUR: As the founder and CEO, what values have remained non-negotiable as CliniMed has grown?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: Patient care, integrity and professionalism are non-negotiable for me. I also believe
strongly in treating people with dignity. Every patient who walks through our doors should feel that they matter, regardless of what service they are coming in for. Another value is continuous improvement. I don’t believe that because something has always been done a certain way, we should continue doing it that way.
Healthcare is changing. Technology is changing. Patients are changing. We have to be willing to evolve while protecting the fundamentals that make healthcare trustworthy.
GLAMOUR: As a woman leading and growing a business in the healthcare sector, what have you learnt about leadership that you wish you knew when you started?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: I wish I had understood earlier that leadership is not about having all the answers. When I started, I felt that because I was the founder, I had to know everything and solve everything. With time, I’ve learned that strong leadership is about building strong people around you, trusting them and giving them room to grow.
I’ve also learned that you can be compassionate without being weak, and you can be decisive without being harsh. Perhaps most importantly, I’ve learned that leadership requires you to constantly work on yourself. As the business grows, you have to grow with it.
GLAMOUR: Women often have to navigate expectations around career, family, leadership and personal fulfilment. How have you approached finding balance in your own life?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: I don’t think balance is something I’ve perfected. I think it is something I continue to work on. There have been seasons when the business needed more of me and seasons when my personal life needed more of me. I’ve learned to accept that balance doesn’t necessarily mean giving everything equal attention every single day. For me, it is about being intentional about what matters in each season.
I’ve also learned that as women, we sometimes feel guilty for wanting more — more professionally, more personally, more for ourselves. I’ve had to learn that ambition and being a present, caring woman are not mutually exclusive. You are allowed to build a business and still want a life outside of that business.
GLAMOUR: Have you ever found yourself having to work harder or prove yourself differently because you are a woman in a leadership position? If so, how did you navigate those experiences?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: Yes. I think many women in leadership will recognise that experience. There have been situations where I’ve felt that I needed to demonstrate my competence more strongly or work harder to establish credibility.But over time, I’ve realised that constantly trying to prove yourself can become exhausting. My approach now is to let my work, consistency and results speak for themselves. I don’t believe I need to become less feminine, less compassionate or more aggressive to be taken seriously as a leader.I can lead in my own way.
GLAMOUR: What does women’s empowerment mean to you beyond the usual conversations around representation and success?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: For me, empowerment is about choice.It means giving women the confidence, resources, education and opportunities to make decisions about their own lives.
It also means creating an environment where a woman doesn’t have to choose between being ambitious and being feminine, between having a family and building a career, or between being successful and remaining true to herself. I believe empowerment is also about opening doors for other women. If I have managed to get into a room that another woman has never had access to, I want to make sure I don’t close the door behind me.
GLAMOUR: What advice would you give to a young South African woman who has a big idea but is afraid to take the first step?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: Start before you feel ready. I think many women wait until they have the perfect plan, enough money, enough experience or enough confidence. The reality is that sometimes the confidence comes after you start. Your first version doesn’t have to be perfect. You can learn, change direction and improve. And don’t be afraid to start small.
CliniMed started with one practice. Today, the vision is much bigger, but I could never have built what exists today without taking that first step in 2008. Your idea doesn’t need everyone else’s approval before it deserves a chance.
GLAMOUR: Beyond the success of the business, what impact do you hope CliniMed will have on the communities it serves, and what legacy do you hope to leave?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: I want CliniMed to be remembered as a healthcare brand that genuinely improved people’s lives.I want us to make quality healthcare feel more accessible and more approachable. I want people to leave our clinics feeling that they were listened to, respected and cared for.
But my legacy is also about creating opportunities. I want to build an organisation where young healthcare professionals can grow, where women can see themselves in leadership, and where entrepreneurship and healthcare can come together to create meaningful opportunities. Ultimately, I don’t want my legacy to simply be the
number of clinics we built. I want it to be the number of lives we touched and the number of people who became better because CliniMed existed.
GLAMOUR: This Women’s Month, what is one thing you would like every woman reading this to remember about her own potential?
Dr Mathobela Matjekane: I would tell every woman: do not make yourself smaller to make other people comfortable. You are allowed to dream beyond what people expect from you. You are allowed to change direction. You are allowed to start again. You are allowed to be ambitious.
And most importantly, don’t wait for permission to become the woman you know you are capable of becoming. Sometimes you have to take the first step before you can see the entire staircase.
If my journey has taught me anything, it is that where you start does not determine where you can end up. Start. Learn. Adapt. Keep going.
And when you finally get to where you were trying to go, reach back and help another woman get there too.
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