Photograph: Passing time at Motherwell

Fortunately, a surprise sighting in the road cheered me up.

Walking along with a dance-like gait were four or five youths painted in white from head to toe, wearing the skimpiest of clothing and carrying sticks.

They were abakhwetha, or Xhosa initiates, busy with their time in isolation living out in small shelters in the bush. Being circumcised is part of their rites of passage.

“Molo”, I greeted them as I passed them. 

How I wanted a photograph of them but I resisted the temptation as I was also aware that their time in the bush was about being away from the rest of the world.

“Molo, molo, mlung-gusi,” one of them replied.

I understood “mlungu”, which means “white man” but I had no clue where the “gusi”, which sounded like “goose” came from.

Long concrete fences separated Motherwell, which was on both sides, from the road.

I took a rest under a shelter which had on its roof samples of garden furniture made at a rustic little workshop.

Three lads on mountain bikes raced down a pathway on the opposite side of the road, one carrying a car battery on his handle bars. They slipped into a residential area through a gap in the concrete fence.

Behind me, bordering the garden furniture workshop, was a graveyard. A young woman walked over to its entrance and chatted to somebody.

I took a closer look. She was talking to a young initiate.

I wondered whether they were breaking the rules?

COMMENT: The issue of initiation ceremonies in South Africa is controversial because every year some initiates die as a result of botched circumcisions. Yet many people value this tradition. What’s your take on it?