A ''kgotla'' (English pronunciation or ) is a public meeting, community council, or traditional law court of a

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

village. It is usually headed by the village chief or headman, and community decisions are always arrived at by consensus. Headmen usually work as the advisers to the chief. No one may interrupt while another is having their say. Because of this tradition, Botswana claims to be one of the world's oldest

democracies Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose go ...

. The custom of allowing everyone their full say is carried over into meetings of all kinds, from discussing a bill to a staff briefing. ''Kgotla'' can also refer to the place where such meetings are held. This can range from a few chairs under a shade canopy to a permanent ground with covered seating. In both senses, the term is a

loan word A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because the ...

in Botswana English from

Setswana Tswana, also known by its native name , and previously spelled Sechuana in English, is a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people. It belongs to the Bantu language family within the Sotho-Tswana branch of Zon ...

, where it means ''court''. In

South African English South African English (SAfrE, SAfrEng, SAE, en-ZA) is the set of English language dialects native to South Africans. History British settlers first arrived in the South African region in 1795, when they established a military holding op ...

, a ''lekgotla'' is a meeting called by government to discuss strategy planning. The term is still a loan word from

, again meaning ''court''. Usually there are men who stay at the Kgotla mostly during the day. These men are usually sent to go and call law defaulters.

References

External links

Example of use in South African context
Retrieved 21 May 2008.

from the Botswana Embassy, Japan
Company providing management trainings with Kgotla
Law of Botswana Community {{Botswana-stub