Mahali was trained to ride a motorcycle under Riders for Health's first nationwide motorcycle fleet program in Lesotho in 1991 when she was working as a health worker for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. Her success as a rider saw her become Riders’ first female trainer. She took a leading role in Riders’ motorcycle training program in Ghana. In 1998, Mahali went to South Africa for further studies and became a lecturer in public health at the University of Bloemfontein before taking up her position as Lesotho country director in 2008.