"tswa", which means "to come out of". The name would be derived from the word "Ba ba tswang" eventually shortened to the word Batswana meaning "The Separatists" or alternatively "the people who cannot hold together". One of the chief characteristics of the Sotho-Tswana clans is the tendency to break up and hive off. Names The term Tswana can be used to refer to one of the following All the Tswana clans residing either in Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe or South Africa Any member of the Sotho-Tswana clans that trace their origin from Kgosi Mokgatle. Citizen of Botswana regardless of linguistic or ethnic origin Members of the eight major Sotho-Tswana clans as defined in the Chieftainship Act of Botswana. Members of the Sotho-Tswana clans that reside in Botswana, South Africa that speak a standardised dialect of the Sotho-Tswana called Setswana sometimes also referred to as the Western Sotho. Any Sotho-Tswana clan that inhabits the Kalahari Desert basin and its eastern and south-western peripheries, unless they are Kgalagari people, who are a different Sotho-Tswana group of tribes. The term Basotho can be used to refer to the following Citizen of Lesotho regardless of linguistic or ethnic origin Any member of the Sotho-Tswana clans that trace their origin from Kgosi Mogale Members of the Sotho-Tswana clans that came together under the leadership of Moshoeshoe during the Difaqane. The Sotho-Tswana clans that stay in the Free State and Lesotho that speak a standardised dialect of the Sotho-Tswana language called Sesotho and sometimes referred to as the Southern Sotho Classification In Sotho-Tswana society each member has a totem which is usually an animal, totems are inherited from the father and thus pass like an English surname. The totem animal had traditionally a status of veneration and avoidance: in particular, it was important not to eat one's totem. In modern Sotho-Tswana society this is not as strictly observed. Each morafe/sechaba had its own totem. When naming a clan the name of the founder could be used or the animal they venerate. An example is the Bahurutshe named after the founder Mohurutshe, or alternatively they can also be called Batshweneng after the tshwene (baboon) which they venerate, similarly Batlhako after the founder, or Batloung after the totem. For some clans the name of the founder and their totem are the same like the Bakwena and Bataung where the founders were named Kwena (crocodile) and Tau (lion) respectively. The