Botswana’s Culture and Tradition
As we step into the first month of the year 2022, there is no better way than celebrating Botswana’s culture and tradition which is a thing of beauty in the lives of Batswana. We are in the millennium years and we still pride ourselves with a Setswana saying, ‘Ngwao Boswa’, which translates to ‘our culture our heritage’. The culture of Botswana has dominated that of other groups. It is prominent in the Setswana language, traditional music, local food & dance, traditional attire, rituals and other ceremonies. Music is one aspect of culture, which has perhaps survived the onslaught of western influences in Botswana.
Setswana traditional music is heard almost everywhere you go, in malls, public transport, homes and entertainment places. In Botswana traditional music, dance and singing are a vital part of everyday life activities and modern-day ceremonies such as weddings and others.
Botswana is well known as a country with rich and interesting clothing traditions although today’s traditional Tswana outfit is a mix of Western-style. As displayed in the pictures here, kids wore clothes that differ from adults’ and they often didn’t use clothes at all, boys used a small flap of skin in front and nothing else. Girls usually wore ‘makgabe’ and added ornaments to their outfits. Men wore a loin-skin called “tshega” whereas women wore leather skirts and leather top to cover their breasts and obviously put ornaments like necklaces and bracelets to match their costumes provided that they played an important role in their life lives. Clothes made from animal skins often showed the class, gender or position of people in the society.
Duncan Sebeso 
Celebrity World 
Administrator