Leteisi Is Back With A Bang :: Mmegi Online

For East Africans it's the kanga, saris for Indians and kimono for the Japanese, and here, in Botswana the German print - widely known as leteisi in the vernacular - is the fabric material that has a space in almost every woman's wardrobe.

Ask any Motswana what the traditional attire is, the answer will be none other than leteisi. Knowing very much that saying jeremani is the Setswana version for the German print fabric, they would prefer to run away from the obvious question: If it is the traditional attire why then is it called the German print?

Leteisi has for decades been an integral part of a Motswana woman. Not having it, as a Motswana woman is synonymous with not being a Motswana woman enough, or being one without breasts. This fabric is, in fact, used as uniform at numerous events including wedding ceremonies, funerals, and Kgotla meetings.

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