ABSTRACT
The behaviour of the Tswana in relation to one another and to the material resources of their environment is controlled in many ways. The Tswana themselves employ a variety of terms to denote all or certain of their rules of conduct. The Tswana employ various mechanisms to ensure that all members of a tribe conform to its recognized norms of conduct. The Tswana themselves speak of their laws as having always existed, from the time that man himself came into being. The Tswana word for taboo, moila, means 'something forbidden' and may be applied to any forbidden action, whatever its sanction. Tswana law has obviously grown and expanded in the form of former decisions, so that it has become very largely a system of oral 'case law'. The spread of Western civilization to the Tswana has greatly accelerated changes in tribal law. The extensive changes raise a very important question in regard to the official recognition of Tswana law.
