The lingo
Lady D said people in Pretoria had their own unique language, which makes it easy to identify those from Pretoria from the rest.

“We do not really speak real Tswana, or Sotho for that matter. People here speak sePitori. Re bua ka bo daai man, daai vrou, daai ding (we speak about that man, that woman or that thing),” she said.

Items like food and money are often referred to with different names.

Mongi Mabasa, a student at Tshwane North College, explains that, for example, R5 was called a “half-jacket”, while R10 was called “jacket”.

“We also call R1 000 ‘istina’ or ‘stena’ and R100 ‘drata’,” he said.

Also, R2 is called “boys” in sePitori lingo.

According to Kasi Nativist, people have come to adopt different meanings to form a language – not just sePitori language.

A few examples
• Coconut – this refers to an African person who is dualistic in their nature, “usually black on the outside and white on the inside”.
• Amashwang-shweng – refers to a nice/beautiful hairstyle on a woman.
• 411 – giving someone the latest news and gossip.
• 6 no 9 – “same difference”.
• Bo-gata – the police.
• Chalk – R20.
• Jacket or tiger – R10.
• Chicken dust – chicken braai done by the roadside.
• Dintshang? – what’s up?
Daai ding – that thing.

Uses: If somebody does not want to mention what he/she is asking for, they will say give me “daai ding” (give me that thing).
• Danone – dating a young girl.
• Frying pan – used to refer to someone who likes to lie.
• Fong-kong – cheap, fake products you can buy from street vendors.
• Feder – (“verder” in Afrikaans) means how are you, or how are you doing or what else is happening in your life.
• Gashu – an idiot.
• Gatvol – fed up.
• Gereza – hustle.
• Gidliza – to act as if you do not know anything.
• Holla gazee – a phrase meaning how are you, my friend?
• Izinyoka – thugs or thieves. Commonly used to refer to people who steal electricity cables.
• Inja – its literal meaning is “dog”. It is now commonly used as an expression of respect, as in “top dog”.
• Jive – means a problem. As in “Ke na le jive le medi ya gago” (I have a problem with your girlfriend/wife).
• Johnnie Walker – someone who does not have a car.
• Ku million or hundreds – it is all good.
• Bunny chow – a quarter of a loaf of bread, with any filling inside; the filling can be meat, potatoes, atchaar, whatever you like. In Pretoria, it is also known as sphatlo. In the Vaal, it is referred to as skumbani.
• Kosovo – a very dangerous place.
• Kasi – ’hood or ghetto.

Station: Rotating fist (the action is like making circles in the air with a clenched fist).

Talking Taxi

Commuting in Pretoria is not always an easy thing to do – you need to know the signs and how to “khomba” or “emisa” (hail) a taxi.

Letlhogonolo Ndhlovu said there were many ways of hailing a taxi and if you do not know these, you are not going to get far.

“Terms like: ‘(at the) bus stop driver’, ‘sho’t left’ or ‘after robot’, form part of the taxi lingo used,” Ndhlovu said.

There are signs that commuters use when hailing a taxi, although no one seems to know who came up with these universal signs in the first place.

“When you want to go to town, you point your index finger up. When you want a local taxi, you use the same finger, but you point it down.”

Local:Index finger pointing down towards the ground.

SePitori is a long-standing fun language mostly understood only by the “klevas” (wise ones) from “kasi” (townships).

There is one unspoken rule of etiquette you need to remember when travelling by taxi.

When you get into the taxi, greet the passengers – having some “Ubuntu” (or “Botho”) might help you in a sticky taxi situation. (In this case, “Ubuntu” refers to “goodwill”.)

Town: Index finger pointing up towards the sky.

Andile Masango learned the importance of this firsthand.

One afternoon after his drama class at TUT, he boarded a taxi from town to Soshanguve.

“I did not greet everyone when I took my seat next to an elderly woman. People were chatting and I thought I would be disturbing them,” he said.

When the time came for the passengers to pay, he realised he was R5 short.

“I panicked. As I was frantically searching my pockets and backpack, the lady next to me handed me a R10 banknote.”

That was when Masango learned why you greet your fellow travellers.

“She said it was ‘Botho’ to greet those you make contact with, because you might need their help.”

You need to familiarise yourself with, these in the golden concrete jungle.