Mozambique protests set to escalate, 'nothing moving' in border town

Violence, tensions and police brutality are expected to intensify in Mozambique on Thursday ahead of a planned mass march, but next door in Komatipoort in Mpumalanga, businesses are feeling the financial pinch of the closure of the Lebombo port of entry due to the unrest.

For nearly a week, violent post-election protests in Mozambique have ocurredall over the country, trickling over to the Ressano Garcia/Lebombo Border, which borders South Africa , where trucks blocked the road.

Citizens were enraged at the outcome of the election which the ruling party Frelimo won , despite opposition parties, civil society and election observers claiming the results were rigged.

The violent protests near the Ressano Garcia border saw the torching of police vehicles and customs buildings, which prompted the Border Management Authority to close the Lebombo port of entry on Tuesday night.

However, by Wednesday afternoon, a group of disgruntled Mozambican nationals forced their way into the country by reportedly pushing the gate open.Members of the South African Police Service allegedly responded by firing rubber bullets and making arrests.

The Komatipoort community policing forum’s Bertus Koekemoer said he received information later in the afternoon that the protesters had moved from the border but were looting trucks several kilometres from the port of entry.

The post election protests have led to fatalities. According to Amnesty International in Mozambique, a protester was killed on Wednesday in Inhambane allegedly by live rounds fired by police.

Campaigner Cídia Chissungo said even doctors and health professionals have joined the protests against the election outcome.

“Tuesday was a bad day and on Wednesday it's raining reports of people who were arrested. The march is set to continue on Thursday and we expect more — this means more violence as we have seen from the police in the past days,” she told TimesLIVE Premium.

Opposition candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who came second as an independent candidate with support from the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos), had called for nationwide peaceful protests from October 31 and encouraged all citizens to make their way to Maputo on Thursday November 7.

This after Podemos filed a case at the Constitutional Council to determine if the elections were free and fair.

According to Human Rights Watch’s advocacy director Allan Ngari, the court is expected to hand down its judgment on Thursday, which is why the day is significant for the opposition.

However, it was unlikely the court will rule that the elections were rigged, which could lead to further protests.

“We actually think the situation is going to get worse if the Constitutional Council determines the elections were free and fair and there is no need to annul them.

“It’s likely the Constitutional Council will not change the results and will declare Daniel Chapo the president-elect, in which case we anticipate Podemos will continue to call for further protest action,” said Ngari.

Chissungo said people do not expect the court to rule in the opposition’s favour.

“The tension is very high, but people were called to a peaceful protest. We have seen and documented many cases where police shot at people. There are records of people shot while sitting inside their houses,” she said.

Ngari said such tensions could lead to an influx of people from Mozambique wanting to come into South Africa. He speculated the closure of the gate was to control a large movement of people who have been displaced.

On the other side of the border, businesses, taxis and trucks operating between Mozambique and South Africa were losing income due to the ongoing protests.

Many businesses in Komatipoort depend on Mozambican consumers but saw a significant drop in profits since the election results were announced, Komatipoort Business Chamber’s Jan Engelbrecht told TimesLIVE Premium.

He said since the announcement of the victory of president-elect Chapo, fewer Mozambicans have travelled to Komatipoort.

“Komatipoort certainly saw a decline in business as Mozambican buyers reduced significantly even before the border was closed. One is amazed to discover how many businesses in Komatipoort rely on the Mozambican trade. Businesses supply maize and building materials which are often bought in South African in bulk, but that income has dropped. Restaurants for people with a Mozambican appetite all had a serious decline in business and the closing of the border has also had an impact,” he told TimesLIVE Premium.

The Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative’s Joseph Ntamele said the trucking and taxi industries were also affected as taxis and trucks were not allowed out of the country into Mozambique.

Only empty trucks were permitted to return to the country and taxis transporting only South African citizens, Ntamele said.

“It has affected the taxi industry and trucks as things are not moving and there is nothing we can do. The trucks are permitted back into the country, but the ones going out are parked at the petrol station and we had to tell the taxi associations not to bring taxis as they can’t leave for Mozambique. Our taxis have to pay instalments at the end of the month and we don’t know how long this will take [to resolve], so this is affecting us a lot. We don’t think the protests will end soon,” said Ntamele.

Koekemoer said the CPF would monitor the situation to ensure safety in Komatipoort.

“We are remaining vigilant and we are in contact with the BMA, the South African Police Service at the border post and the police in Komatipoort.”

Earlier this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated president-elect Chapo while applauding the Mozambique National Election Commission for the “professional way” it conducted the elections. 

He, however, expressed concern about the ongoing violence and deaths and encouraged dissatisfied citizens to “exhaust the established legal remedies” to solve their election grievances.