Kagiso Malefo is a native Tshila speaker from Kaudwane, Botswana. He was born and raised in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. He started school at Kaudwane Primary School and finished OTSE Police College in 2018. He works as a police officer on the borders. He is a native speaker of Tshila (Kalahari Khoe), and is fluent in Setswana and English; he additionally understands Shekgalagadi, Gllana, and Shua. He has always been interested in preserving his home language, spoken by around 250 people. He has collaborated with linguists from several countries in order to document his language and begin assembling a dictionary. Kagiso is heavily involved in orthography development for Tshila, and would like to bring the language into the local primary school, as well as establishing a local radio station.

Tshila is an Indigenous language spoken in Botswana, facing significant challenges due to the dominance of Setswana and English in the education system. With a complex phonetic structure—at least 92 consonants and around 12 tones—developing a standardized written form for Tshila requires dedicated community effort.

Kagiso’s project seeks to establish a pre-K language nest in Kaudwane, creating an immersive Tshila-medium environment where elders can pass down their language and knowledge to young children. This initiative will introduce a community-developed orthography, helping children become familiar with written Tshila through a language primer (alphabet book) with pictures.