[ENG] The Setswana name for June is Seetebosigo. Although Seetebosigo [June] has been designated as the sixth month of the Gregorian Calendar in Setswana, it is actually the tenth month of the traditional Setswana lunar calendar, whose year starts with the onset on the ploughing season in September (Lwetse). In fact, it gets more complicated than that, since because the 12-month lunar year inevitably falls out of alignment with the seasons, and therefore the beginning of the planting season will not occur at exactly the same time each solar cycle. According to some pundits, this is what resulted in the addition of a 13th month (Morule) every several years, to correct the 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 name Seetebosigo itself literally translates to “do not visit at night”. This of cause is in homage to the fact that June nights are very cold, and Batswana were never particularly excited about sharing their limited inventory of winter warmers, as emphasised in the seane (proverb) “moeng wa mariga o adingwa mpa”, or the more recently composed one “moeng wa mariga o adingwa phate”. One needs to be reminded that Batswana live in a relatively hot and semi-arid environment, which experiences cold weather for only about one quarter of the year, so it makes sense that they did not really invest much in warm clothing and bedding (unlike their cold mountain-dwelling cousins, Basotho, who have even incorporated blankets and shawls into their traditional regalia).

The nights are long and cold, and in the olden days, the inconvenience that came with it was enough of a deterrent to would-be night callers. July rivals June with its coldness, and had actually gained a reputation for harbouring the coldest breezes, that could drop temperatures below zero. However, it would begin to warm up again very rapidly in August, and September when the summer began.
Although Batswana lands are reputed for their semi-arid climate, there can be occasional rains in the winter. This rain, known as kgogolammoko is the last rainfall of the lunar year and has been known to bring with it extremely cold days. Fortunately this very rarely extends more than a week.

Read more about the seasons on Dipaka [Seasons] and about the months on Dikgwedi [Months].

[TSN] Le fa ntswa kgwedi ya Seetebosigo e bidiwa kgwedi ya borataro mo ngwageng, fa re dirisa moalo wa dikgwedi wa Gregorian Calendar, mo Setswaneng sa motsogapele, se se neng se bala dikgwedi ka ngwedi (e eng ke letsatsi jaaka Gregorian Calendar), e ne e le kgwedi ya bolesome. 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 balelwa mo ngweding, 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 Seetebosigo le raya go ne go re go seka ga etiwa bosigo ka serame se a bo se ile magoletsa, bogolo jang mo bosigong. O ka bona jaaka Batswana ba tswang kgakala ba sa kgatlhwe ke go adimisana dilwana tsa serame mo seaneng se di reng “moeng wa mariga o adingwa mpa” le monnaasone o reng “moeng wa mariga o adingwa mpa”. Go botlhoka go gakologelwa go re jaaka Batswana ba tshelela mo lefatsheng le le bolelo, ga ba a atilsa go rua diaparo le dikobo tsa serame di le dintsi (pharologanong le barwaraabone, Basotho, ba ba tshelelang mo dithabeng tse di serame, ba ba bileng ba akareditse dikobo mo kaparing ya bone).

Masigo a Seetebosigo a maleele ebile a serame mo go neng go kganela metsamao e mentsi, bogolo jang e e sa tlameng. Kgwedi ya Phukwi e phadisana le ya Seetebosigo ka botsididi jo gantsi bo lerweng ke diphefo di tsididi, tse di kgonang le go gatsetsa metsi bosigo. Pula ya kgogolammoko, e e leng pula ya bofelo mo ngwageng wa setso, e kgona go na ka Seetebosigo, mme e goletse serame fela thata. Maikgomotso e nne fela go re serame sa teng ga se gantsi se tsaya lobaka le le ka fetang beke.