LIFE has not been easy for Mandla Cukutu as he has never been to an initiation school.
The 53-year-old from Gugulethu said everyone treats him like a young boy and he is not even allowed to interact with his age mates because he is regarded as “inkwenkwe” (a boy).
“It has not been easy for me because nobody wants to be associated with me. It’s like I have leprosy. When there is an event, I am not allowed to sit with men my age, but must sit with boys. I’m forced to call teenagers ‘bhuti’ when they return from initiation because they are men and I’m still a boy,” said madala Mandla.
