[ENG] The Setswana name for September is Lwetse. The ninth month of the Gregorian Calendar (September/Lwetse) is in fact the first month of the traditional Tswana lunar calendar, whose year starts with the onset on the agricultural season in August/September (Lwetse). “Ngwaga o mosha!” [“Happy New Year!”]

However, this is not as clear-cut as my introduction above makes it seem. Traditional Southern African calendars were based on the moon cycle, as well as annual seasonal rotations. This tended to create complications as a 12-month lunar cycle is bound to fall out of alignment with key season markers, such as mid-winter, mid-summer, beginning of rainy seasons, animal and bird migrations and reproductive cycles, etc. This therefore means the beginning of the planting season will not occur at exactly the same time each solar cycle, as each moon cycle is only 30 days, leaving an accumulation of days which do not fall within the designated months. After several years, the onset of summer would now appear to be deep in Seetebosigo [June] unless something is done to realign the months. According to some pundits, this is what resulted in the addition of a 13th month (Morule) every five or six years, to correct te alignment of the months with the seasons. The discussion about this 13th month will be included in the “Morule [Undecimber] – the 13^th Month ” post.

The Setswana name for September is Lwetse which, unlike those July (Phukwi) and August (Phatwe), does not require too deep an understanding of both Setswana vocabulary and natural phenomena, as it is quite self-explanatory – similar to that of June [Seetebosigo]. “Lwetse” is just a contraction of “bolwetse”, which means illness.
This follows the logic that as seasons change from the cold, dry, and what some consider gloomy months of winter to new vitality of spring, an observed change in the mental states of people was noted and this was seen as some sort of sickness. While others experience the ups of “spring fever”, it was also not uncommon to see signs of “spring lethargy” in others. As much as these were mainly behavioral symptoms, there has also been an attribution of springtime changes to actual mental health problems being observed. Setswana has an expression “ditlhare di a bo di thunya” [once again, trees are in blossom], used as a euphemism to explain why people’s sanity appears to be reduced, and for those with actual mental conditions, it is believed that springtime triggers them.

But there is even more to September sickness, as again there are higher instances of physical ailments attributed to pollen, dust, and rapidly changing atmospheric temperatures that are peculiar to this time of the year. Simply put, hay fever.
Finally, there’s a third kind of sickness which is also suggested as an etymological ground for “Lwetse”: pregnancy. One of the several euphemisms for pregnancy is just to say that one is unwell or ill. According to some pundits, this is the meaning of bolwetse that gave the month its name. Apart from the high instances of antelope pregnancy, even the rain clouds are said to be “laden with child” as the beginning of the rainy season is at hand.

That being said, it was customary for tribal chieftains to officiate the start of the ploughing season around this time by initiating ­letsema, where tribesmen would start the agricultural production of that year by planting the chieftain’s fields as a community project. As soon as this was done, people would then be expected to go to their own fields and start ploughing for that year’s production period.

[TSN] Kgwedi ya borobongwe ya ngwaga wa moalo wa “Gregorian Calendar” ke ya ntlha ya ngwaga ka moalo wa Setswana sa Maloba. Ngwaga o wa Setswana sa pele o ne o simolola ka kgwedi ya Lwetse fa go ipaakanyediwa temo. Marara a kgang e a okediwa ke go re jaaka dikgwedi tsa Setswana di ne di balwa ka motsamao wa ngwedi, e ne e re morago ga dingwaga di le mmalwa, dikgwedi di bo di sa tlhole di lebagane sentle le dipaka tsa ngwaga. Go tila se, gatwe go ne ga tlhangwa kgwedi ya bo lesome-le-boraro, e e bidiwang Morule, e e neng e kgona go tlodisa dingwaga di le mmalwa e sa balwe. Polelwana ka kgwedi e re ka e bona fa tsebeng ya “Morule [Undecimber] – the 13^th Month ”.

Leina “Lwetse” lone ga le tshwane le a Phukwi le Phatwe a a tlhokang gore motho a bo a na le kitso e e tseneletseng ka khumo ya mafoko a Setswana ga mmogo le ditsamaiso tsa tlholego. Lone le tlhamaletse fela jaaka la Seetebosigo, ka le lone le tlhaloganyesega motlhofo. Ke khutshwafatso ya lefoko “bolwetse”.

Bolwetse jo, bo gararo. Go na le kgang ya gore fa mariga a fela jaana go simolola go apoga le mogote o oketsega, bangwe ba belwa ke maikutlo a mokaragana b abo ba nna ekare ba letlhegelwa ke tlhaloganyo le boikarabelo. Ba bangwe mme bone ba wela maikutlo ba tsenega tsebetsebe, mme ba sala ba le mo seeming se go ka tweng ban a le bolwetse.
Bolwetse ja tlhaloganyo ja boammaaruri le jone go itemogelwa fa bon a le go ya magoletsa mo pakeng eno ya ngwaga. Ka jalo re a tle re nne re utlwe batho ba re “ditlhare di a bo di thunya”, e le jaaka ba kaya gore bogole ja tlhaloganyo bo oketsega thata nako e ya ngwaga.

Jo bongwe bolwetse ke ja mmele e seng tlhaloganyo. Fa ditlhare di baya, mmogo le lerole le le dirwang ke diphefo tse di dithole, bangwe ba tshabelelwa ke go nna le dikai tse di tshwanang le tsa mhikela, jalo jalo. Se Makgowa ba se bitsa “hay fever”.

Ja boraro bolwetse ke jo bo rayang go ima. Re tla bona fa re bua ka Phalane [October] gore mo kgeding e e tlang, diphana di a bo di tsetse di le dintsi, ka jalo mo nakong ya gompieno bontsi ja tsone di a dusa.
Kgang ya bolwetse ja go dusa gape e lebaganngwa le maru, ka go tseelwa gore le one a a dusa jaaka go le gaufi gore dipula tse di namagadi di simolole go tsorotla.

Mme tla re digele ka go re bogologolo e ne e re ngwaga o tsamaya fa, kgosi a bitse letsema, go simolodisa temo ya ngwana oo. Morafe o ne o simolola ka go tshologela letsema la kgosi, ba lema ditshimo tsa gagwe, mme e reng ba fetsa, b abo bay a go simolola go itemela.