Diselammapa ga di ratane.
“Traders in the same goods do not love one another.”
People competing in the same trade or pursuit rarely stay on friendly terms with each other.
— Traditional Botswana Wisdom, Botswana
Source: Traditional Setswana (Botswana) proverb, public-domain oral tradition
More Proverbs from Botswana
A bull is caught by its horns, but a person is caught by their words.
A person's own words reveal their true character and can bind them just as surely as an animal is restrained by its horns.
A mother holds the knife by its sharp edge for the sake of her child.
A mother will endure pain or danger herself rather than let harm reach her child.
A person is a person because of other people.
No one becomes fully human alone; identity, dignity, and worth are formed through relationships with others.
A basket of locusts is only filled by people working together.
Large or difficult tasks, including raising a child or building a community, are accomplished through shared effort, not by any one person alone.
A chief is chief only because of the tribe.
A leader's authority comes from the people they serve, not from themselves; leadership without the people's support is empty.
The Moon laughs at the Sun, saying, "You are white."
Before criticizing someone else's fault, look honestly at yourself; you may share the very flaw you mock.