Ziwani’s podcast series Big Change: How Ordinary Christians Change Their World explores how Christians can drive significant change in society. Dineo Lioma is the founder and CEO of Docotela, a telehealth platform that provides affordable access to quality healthcare. This summary was written by Lise-Marie Keyser, and you can listen to the full episode here.
Introduction
Enabling equal access to quality healthcare remains one of South Africa’s most pressing challenges. For Dineo Lioma, addressing this gap is both a professional mission and a personal conviction. In this interview, she reflects on how access (to education, to capital, and to care) has shaped her journey, and why alignment between values and action is essential in creating lasting change.
The value of access
Born in the 1990s, Dineo Lioma was greatly influenced by South Africa’s transition from apartheid to democracy – and the new opportunities this provided those who had been excluded from specific educational and career avenues before. Her late uncle became the first doctor (an orthopaedic surgeon) in her family, and his selfless service to rural and township communities planted the seed for her early dream of also becoming a doctor.
Her natural aptitude for tinkering with appliances together with a spiritual conviction changed her study plans, however, and she completed a Master’s degree in Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, as well as a Master’s degree in Micro- and Nanotechnology Enterprise at the University of Cambridge. While studying, she also cultivated her entrepreneurial skills through the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation scholarship programme – ultimately finding her purpose at the intersection of medicine, engineering, and entrepreneurship.
Reflecting on the value of having access to technical training and start-up support, she is passionate about creating similar opportunities for others, saying, “I knew I wanted to use my engineering brain coupled with entrepreneurship and my love for medicine to impact the healthcare space.”
Challenges in South Africa’s healthcare system
South Africa’s healthcare system is characterised by complexity and inequality. As Dineo comments, “Even though it’s been 30 years since apartheid ended, the difference in healthcare access and quality available to the rich versus the poor is still exceptionally large.” Around 84% of the population relies on the public health sector, which is severely under-resourced and overstretched. Meanwhile the remaining 16%, typically those who can afford private medical insurance, have access to some of the best healthcare services in the world.
She elaborates, “In the public health sector, long lines, overworked staff, and limited facilities are the norm. It’s not unusual for people to wait an entire day just to see a doctor. What makes it even more frustrating is that the public and private sectors spend roughly the same amount of money on healthcare – the one serving 16%, and the other serving 84% of the population. Of course there will be a discrepancy in the level of care available. And while it’s easy to point fingers at the government, we all have a responsibility to address this problem.”
“When COVID-19 came,” Dineo continues, “it exposed just how wide the healthcare gap really is in this country. People who ended up in public ICU wards often had worse outcomes simply because those hospitals didn’t have the same equipment or capacity as private ones.” Dineo helped develop the first locally made COVID test kit, and while they achieved their aim of producing these at low cost, she realised that unless the service providers were willing to lower their prices too, the people who needed it most still couldn’t afford it. “We could sell our test kit for a substantially lower price, but if the end user still has to pay the same for the service, then we’re just helping the pathology labs or hospitals increase their profit,” she points out.
Docotela’s innovative approach
Rather than trying to overhaul the entire healthcare system, Dineo and her Docotela team are meeting people where they are – online. For R390, patients can have a virtual consultation with a qualified doctor, and that fee includes a R100 voucher towards the costs of any prescribed medication. This model not only brings down the cost of seeing a doctor but also eliminates the need to spend an entire day waiting in line at a public clinic. “For many South Africans, particularly those who earn daily wages or work informal jobs,” she says, “taking time off to see a doctor simply isn’t an option. Docotela’s platform removes that barrier, offering care that’s designed to fit into the reality of people’s lives.”
Beyond primary healthcare, Docotela is also focusing on early intervention in cases of diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes. “We want to make speaking to a doctor as easy as possible so that if you have a slight chest pain, you can quickly call our doctors and ask questions and let them give you a referral if necessary, rather than wait until it develops into something serious.”
Moreover, they’ve built in flexibility for healthcare professionals through a gig economy model, letting doctors work remotely and on their own schedule. Docotela handles all the administration and marketing so that doctors don’t have to spend their time managing a practice. They can focus on what they love to do. It’s a win-win – doctors get a better work-life balance, and more patients get access to care that’s both compassionate and cost-effective.
The company generates revenue through a few streams – a business-to-consumer (B2C) model offering once-off virtual consultations for R390 (including a R100 medication voucher), and a subscription model for unlimited consultations at R199 per month. On the business-to-business (B2B) side, Docotela partners with corporates who pay a retainer to offer virtual healthcare as an employee benefit, allowing the company to reach large groups of people more quickly. “It’s the difference between selling your product to one corporate that can give you access to 100 customers versus selling 100 times to one customer at a time,” Dineo explains. “It’s been great in terms of getting the scale we need.”
The value of alignment
Access to values-aligned funding has played a crucial role in Dineo’s ability to grow her business without compromising on her mission. “The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation focused on developing us into ethical, high-impact entrepreneurs. And once we had a bankable business idea, E-Squared Investments stepped in with funding,” she explains. This capital was used wisely – to test the market, develop prototypes, acquire early customers, and refine the product until the right product-market fit was achieved. “I’ve spent the last 10 years really trying to better understand the end user,” she says. “It’s important that we create solutions that meet their needs – not just what you think would be nice with all the bells and whistles.”
In the early stages, she adopted a lean approach by outsourcing functions such as legal and accounting to save costs. However, she believes that full-time teams add greater strategic value. “Part-time people focus on completing tasks,” she notes. “From a strategy perspective, you don’t get the richness of long-term alignment. I’m definitely pro a full-time legal and CFO functionality – it’s something you build up to.”
Another recurring theme in Dineo’s journey is the critical role of value alignment between founders and investors. She recalls a particularly challenging moment when she had to turn down a highly lucrative opportunity because it conflicted with her values. Knowing it could impact her ability to pay salaries, she reached out to her investor for guidance. “They said, ‘No, let it go. We back your decision.’” In contrast, she saw another founder’s investor advise them to take a questionable deal, saying ‘just don’t tell anyone’ – a red flag that highlighted the power of having the right people in your corner.
“You’re going to be journeying together for a while,” she says. “You don’t want to be in a long-term, marriage-like relationship with someone who has a completely different moral compass.” While saying no to certain deals has required sacrifice, Dineo believes it’s worth it. “As a Christ-led entrepreneur, it’s important that I undergird my decisions with faith, even when it costs me something.”
The National Health Insurance (NHI) debate
Dineo’s emphasis on the value of access and alignment goes beyond her own business – it also shapes how she engages with broader societal issues. For example, South Africa’s proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) aims to pool healthcare resources into a single fund, removing the divide between the public and private sectors. It faces widespread resistance though, due to vested business interests, concerns about corruption, and differing views on the government’s role.
“The ongoing debate can get heated, but it brings an essential question to the forefront – how do we make high-quality healthcare accessible for everyone? I recently sat in on a fiery discussion where government officials, lawyers, medical professionals, and unions all brought different perspectives to the table,” Dineo recalls. “Everyone agrees on the need for better healthcare access, but the ‘how’ remains hotly contested.”
An answer might be found in the biblical principle of collective giving for a shared mission. In the book of Ezra, when the Israelites returned to Jerusalem from their Babylonian exile, they each contributed resources to rebuild the temple. Not under compulsion, but from a place of unity and purpose. “That’s the kind of spirit we need in conversations around the NHI,” she comments. “South Africans are wary, and rightly so, given the history of financial mismanagement. If we’re going to ask citizens to contribute more taxes, we also need to rebuild trust.”
“I do think that ultimately the vision is one that aligns deeply with the heart of God,” Dineo says. “God is not an elitist. So how can we work together as South Africa, to pool our resources to achieve a common goal? Even if the system takes a few years to mature, investing in preventative care and widespread wellness could reduce long-term costs and create a more productive society.”
But this requires divine wisdom and bold leadership. “I wish more Christians would engage in politics, in entrepreneurship, in policy-making, so that we can bring the heart of God to these tables where decisions are made,” she states. “I wish Christians would not box God into simply a Sunday church service or their own family affairs. God wants to touch all spheres of our lives because His heart is for people. If people are in economics, God is going to be there. If people are in healthcare, He’s also going to be there. If people are in forestry, if people are in banking, God is going to be there. We can ask Him for wisdom in implementing the right policies in the right way.”
Conclusion
Dineo’s story is a compelling reminder that meaningful change in society doesn’t begin with grand systems, but with ordinary people who are willing to do the hard, sacrificial work of aligning vision with action. Through Docotela, she’s building more than just a business, she’s building bridges – between doctors and patients, between innovation and accessibility, and between personal faith and public impact. Her journey shows that every one of us can indeed contribute to a more just and compassionate world.
