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/ 19 July 2002

The making of a man

A Xhosa initiation school graduate, on condition of anonymity, breaks the silence surrounding this tradition: <i>’Ndiyindoda!</i>" I shout on cue. I am a man. In split seconds the <i>ingcibi</i>, a traditional surgeon, crouching between my thighs severs my foreskin.

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/ 19 July 2002

The instant mums club

Once, in the heyday of Hollywood, the evidence of screen success was a soft-top pink Cadillac. Now it is a far smaller — and not necessarily pink — bundle of joy that, like the oversized car, can be easily purchased and driven straight back to the Los Angeles mansion: an adopted baby.