02 Sep 2018

Setswana as a language must be preserved because it has the potential to alleviate poverty and participate in economic diversification as it promotes rich Setswana culture.

Professor Thapelo Otlogetswe of the University of Botswana said this at the launch of Setswana Sotlhe; a Setswana Reference Guide authored by Kennel Seretse recently. 

Professor Otlogetswe commended Seretse for penning down the book in Setswana, saying not many authors were keen on vernacular literature even though Setswana was used as an official language Botswana and South Africa. 

Further, Setswana as a language is spoken across six Southern African countries being Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

As such, he said Setswana was then selected by African Union (AU) through the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), to be developed then recognised in Africa. “This book will help the AU to achieve its mandate of developing our language. 

I would therefore like to encourage Seretse to approach application developers so that they create a Setswana Sotlhe App that will be accessible on digital platforms,” he advised.

Taking a trip down memory lane, author, Seretse, narrated how he got inspiration to write the book in 2001. 

He explained that an epiphany of some sorts overtook him when he read a certain book during his school days ‘that was not user-friendly and properly packaged’ as most of the Setswana words and phrases used were not properly explained. 

That was when he embarked on a journey across the country and learnt of different Setswana culture, tradition and languages and put it in a book, which he hopes will benefit everyone in the educational and cultural industries. 

He said because he was passionate about Setswana language, Setswana Sotlhe was his contribution to preserving Setswana culture and promised he would do more.

Seretse expressed gratitude to Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) for sponsoring the book and further appealed to the public to purchase it and learn more on Setswana culture as it contained everything about a traditional Motswana.

Setswana Sotlhe is a 246-page reference guide on a diverse range of subjects pertaining to Setswana culture.

The book would benefit scholars, researchers, musicians, story-writers and poets among others. It is available in bookshops across the country at a P250 fee. ENDS