Dr. Tshepo Motsepe, the First Lady of the Republic of South Africa, will on Tuesday embark on an official visit to the US.

She departs ahead of her husband Cyril Ramaphosa, who will lead the South African delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The assembly begins Tuesday and goes on for nine days.

"Dr. Motsepe will start her visit at her alma mater, Harvard University’s School of Public Health, where she will deliver an address at the Open Summit on Early Childhood Health and Development in South Africa," said a statement from the Presidency. 

"She will also have a conversation with a group of students and faculty from the Department of Global Health and Population.

"On the second leg of her visit, Dr. Motsepe will attend the unveiling of the Nelson Mandela statue at the United Nations headquarters."

Dr. Motsepe holds a Master of Public Health in maternal child health and aging from the Harvard School of Public Health. She is a qualified medical doctor, holding a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. 

She has also completed a Social Entrepreneurship Certificate Programme at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS).

Dr. Motsepe has worked in private practice and in hospitals including Chris Hani Baragwaneth Hospital in South Africa and Parirenyatwa Hospital in Zimbabwe - each the largest in their countries. 

She also worked with the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute which is a leading African research institute focusing on sexual, reproductive health and HIV research. She has also served as Chairperson of the Gauteng Health Department’s Accreditation Committee.

Dr. Motsepe is the chairperson of African Self Help Trust (ASHA), a non-profit organisation, which provides early childhood development support programmes for home-based crèches in disadvantaged communities.