Khauhelo Deborah Raditapole

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Khauhelo Deborah Raditapole is a Lesotho medical professional and politician. She was born on 7 August 1938 in Maseru. She trained as a pharmacist, earning a degree from Lvov Medical School in Ukraine and a master's in the United States. After being denied entry to Lesotho, she spent about ten years working at a teaching hospital in Tanzania. She returned to Lesotho in 1987 at the invitation of Health official Thomas Thabane and later worked at the Lesotho Pharmaceutical Corporation.

Raditapole entered politics in Mabote constituency in 1993 as a member of the Basotho Congress Party (BCP), serving as the Mabote representative until 1998. She was appointed Minister of Health, later transferring to the Ministry of Natural Resources in 1995. In 1996 she resigned from the ministerial post, a rare move in Lesotho at the time.

As Health Minister, she helped define the AIDS control strategy in 1994 and supported the Jordan Basin project, which led to the Metolong Dam and improved access to clean water for Basotho. In 2004 she served as a member of the Pan-African Parliament representing Lesotho. Within the BCP, after a party dispute in 2003, she became the party leader in February 2004.