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“As much as I feel nervous about making bold moves, I know there are women watching, seeing what’s possible. And that matters.”
Articles
News 24 - Dr Mpopi Lenake
This is a profile feature from TrueLove magazine (published on News24) spotlighting Dr Mpopi Lenake, a South African ophthalmologist and co-founder of Women in Ophthalmology South Africa. The piece explores her journey into eye care, her mission to make specialist eye care more accessible to all South Africans, and her work in mentorship within the medical field. Dr Lenake reflects on purpose, resilience, and the importance of representation in leadership roles within healthcare.
Sustainable Living Review
Seeing Sustainability Through Dr. Lenake's Lens
While climate and environment dominate most sustainability conversations, Dr. Mpopi Lenake — ophthalmologist and oculoplastic surgeon, makes a compelling case that healthy people are the true foundation of sustainable communities. In a conversation with Sustainable Living Review, she explores how access to quality healthcare creates a ripple effect across education, employment, and family stability, and why preventative care and women's wellness are not peripheral issues but central pillars of sustainable development.
From restoring patients' sight to mentoring the next generation of women in medicine, Dr. Lenake offers a more human-centred vision of sustainability, one where longevity, balance, and purpose matter as much as carbon footprints.
While climate and environment dominate most sustainability conversations, Dr. Mpopi Lenake — ophthalmologist and oculoplastic surgeon, makes a compelling case that healthy people are the true foundation of sustainable communities. In a conversation with Sustainable Living Review, she explores how access to quality healthcare creates a ripple effect across education, employment, and family stability, and why preventative care and women's wellness are not peripheral issues but central pillars of sustainable development.
From restoring patients' sight to mentoring the next generation of women in medicine, Dr. Lenake offers a more human-centred vision of sustainability, one where longevity, balance, and purpose matter as much as carbon footprints.
Glamour
Dr Mpopi Lenake is not your average ophthalmologist. As both a specialist and entrepreneur, she has carved out a unique space where clinical precision meets holistic wellness — helping patients not just see better, but feel more confident in themselves. In a candid conversation with Glamour SA, she opens up about the surprising link between eye health and self-image, the rise of aesthetic eye treatments, and what it means to build a business as a young Black woman in a highly specialised field. Her message is clear: true luxury in healthcare is feeling seen, heard, and cared for, and ambition is never something to apologise for.
Mail & Guardian
Ahead of the African Ophthalmology Council Congress in Cape Town, Dr Mpopi Lenake reflects on why preventing avoidable blindness across Africa depends on lasting partnerships in research, education, and early screening, and why accessible eye care lets children learn, adults work, and older people stay independent.
Youth Village
Ahead of the African Ophthalmology Council Congress in Cape Town, Dr Mpopi Lenake reflects on bringing global eye-care innovation home, making the case that Africa should be an active partner in innovation, and that protecting sight depends less on advanced technology than on equitable access, strong training, and catching treatable conditions before it's too late.
Medical Brief
Dr Mpopi Lenake tells MedicalBrief that avoidable blindness remains one of Africa's biggest eye health challenges, with cataracts, glaucoma and diabetic eye disease still costing millions their sight because there are too few ophthalmologists and patients reach care too late.
A Women's Month profile in Nounouche on Dr Mpopi Lenake, tracing how the ophthalmologist and oculoplastic surgeon built her expertise across South Africa and Australia, and how she now uses it to treat patients, teach young doctors and open the field to more women in African medicine.
Known Magazine Africa
A Known Magazine Africa profile of Dr Mpopi Lenake, tracing her training and credentials as an oculoplastic surgeon alongside her leadership roles in South African ophthalmology and her ongoing work in research, teaching, and mentorship.
TimesLive
Dr Mpopi Lenake features in TimesLIVE on avoidable blindness in Africa, timed to the African Ophthalmology Council Congress in Cape Town. Cataracts, uncorrected refractive error, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy still cost millions their sight, even though most are treatable. The barrier is access, not medicine: too few ophthalmologists, long distances and low awareness mean patients arrive after vision loss sets in. She calls for routine eye examinations, stronger referral pathways and community-based screening, and points to AI and telemedicine as ways to reach rural communities.
Radio
Interviews
Radio 2000
Dr Lenake discusses all things ophthalmologists, What they do, when you need one and different eye conditions
Radio 2000
00:00 / 44:25
Power FM - SME Grind
Dr Lenake discusses being an entrepreneur in the medical industry.
Power FM - SME Grind
00:00 / 23:57
Capricorn FM
Dr Lenake discusses cataracts and preventing blindness.
Capricorn FM - Capricorn Sunrise
00:00 / 12:53
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