Proverbs from around Southern Africa, from communities in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa … Feel free to suggest or submit more via the forum, which will then be added to the list.
- When you think of a rhinoceros, climb a tree.
Community/language of origin: Shona
Country: Zimbabwe / Zambia/ Mozambique - You cannot put two bulls in one kraal.
Community/language of origin: Tswana
Country: Botswana - When trees grow together, their branches are bound to touch each other.
Community/language of origin: Bemba
Country: Zambia - The hands that make mistakes belong to those who work.
Community/language of origin: Sesotho
Country: Lesotho - One should never rub bottoms with a porcupine.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Zambia - A person who sells eggs should not start a fight in the market.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Zambia - The lion is a beautiful animal, when seen at a distance.
Community/language of origin: Zulu
Country: South Africa - You have to be patient if you want to prise a worm from a chicken.
Community/language of origin: Bemba
Country: Zambia - One should look into what caused the elephant’s tusk to break.
Community/language of origin: Chewa
Country: Zambia - The lion is a beautiful animal, when seen at a distance.
Community/language of origin: Zulu
Country: South Africa - Do not open the mouth of a snake to see its teeth.
In original language: Unknown
Community/language of origin: Sesotho
Country: Lesotho & South Africa - When you bite indiscriminately, you end up eating your own tail.
Community/language of origin: Zulu
Country: South Africa - Fortune favors the foolish.
In original language: Amajodo awela abangelambiza.
Community/language of origin: Ndebele
Country: Zimbabwe - One does not become great by claiming greatness.
Community/language of origin: Xhosa
Country: South Africa - Fortune never comes twice.
In original language: Inhlanhla kayiphindwa kabili
Community/language of origin: Ndebele
Country: Zimbabwe - Discretion is better than valour.
Meaning: Being prudent is better than to merely be courageous
In original language: Kwabo kagwala akulasililo.
Community/language of origin: Ndebele
Country: Zimbabwe - It is only a foolish cock that believes the sun will not rise if it does not crow.
In original language: Unknown
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Lesotho - Never trust a dog to guard your food.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Africa - A person who rarely travels thinks what he is exposed to is the best.
In original language: Omwana shenda atashanina kunaya
Community/language of origin: Bemba
Country: Zambia - A person who panics at the sound of something falling knows what he has secretly hidden up a tree.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Zimbabwe - When you wake up one morning and find that everybody around you is very tall, you must first see if you are standing.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Malawi - Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Swaziland - Parents are the bones on which children sharpen their teeth.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Africa - If you are requested to carry someone’s drums, it does not mean you are authorized to play them.
Community/language of origin: Shona
Country: Zimbabwe
Read more about If you are requested to carry someone’s drums - It is only a foolish woman who quarrels with a midwife if she intends to have more children.
Community/language of origin: Shona
Country: Zimbabwe - Do not throw away the old bucket until you know the new can hold water.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Africa - Money can buy you a bed, but it cannot buy you sleep.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Malawi - You cannot appreciate the wisdom of the foolish unless you become a fool yourself.
Community/language of origin: Muzuzu
Country: Malawi - All that glitters is not gold.
Community/language of origin: Gabarone area
Country: Botswana - Do not laugh at people with a disability, because tomorrow it might be you.
Community/language of origin: Shangaan
Country: Mozambique - Everything that has a beginning has got an end.
In original language: Shakukala shungaheli shasingita
Community/language of origin: Shangaan
Country: Mozambique - He who gives you advice loves you.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Zambia - The guest is the one who kills the snake.
Means: In case of trouble you ask for the advice of a foreigner to help you out.
In original language: Mulendo ndyena panyoka
Community/language of origin: Cisena,Tete province
Country: Mozambique
Read more about The guest is the one who kills the snake - Give to the one who has given to you.
In original language: Mupe akupere
Community/language of origin: Makonde
Country: Mozambique - You will never know the importance of your buttocks until you develop a boil on them!
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Africa - If your buttocks burn, you know you have done wrong.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Africa - When a leopard starts devouring its young ones, it starts by accusing that young one of smelling like a goat.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Zimbabwe - A bird will always use another birds’ feathers to feather its own nest. [Quoted from Stanley Letsoko]
Community/language of origin: South Sotho
Country: Lesotho - The horse that arrives early gets good drinking water.
Community/language of origin: Zulu
Country: South Africa
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