Trucking industry on R5bn losses, Lebombo border remains guarded as death toll rises in Mozambique post-election protests

More police and members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) are on standby at the Lebombo port of entry in Komatipoort, Mpumalanga, as protests in neighbouring Mozambique intensified on Thursday, with more fatalities reported.

The Border Management Authority (BMA) spent Thursday monitoring the border after it closed on Wednesday night when protests turned violent on the other side, with disgruntled Mozambicans torching a customs building, trucks and a Mozambican police vehicle.

Mozambicans have been protesting since last month against the “rigged” election outcome which extended ruling party Frelimo’s 47-year run. Civil organisations, opposition and election observers including the EU noted irregularities in the elections which found that Frelimo's president-elect Daniel Chapo received more than 70% of the votes. 

“As part of a proactive security measure, members of the SANDF have been put on standby, as well as the police and border guards, to ensure that the possible spillover does not happen on the South African side,” BMA commissioner Michael Masiapato told TimesLIVE Premium.

Gavin Kelly, CEO of the Road Freight Association, said the closure of the Lebombo border has led to the disruption, mainly of cargo moving out of South Africa.

Kelly said there was no data immediately available on how many trucks were stopped at the border.

The border was first closed from the Mozambique side due to the authorities addressing the post-election disruptions.

“We are close to R5bn in disruptions to cargo from South Africa moving through the Mozambique port,” Kelly said.

He said various authorities had advised that transport companies should not attempt to cross into Mozambique.

Kelly was not surprised that logistics group Grindrod has temporarily suspended its port and terminal operations in Maputo and Matola, as the country is in a state of turmoil last seen in the 1970s.

“Various manufacturing, storage and logistical companies have decided to suspend operations in the safety interests of all concerned. In addition, the closure will hopefully not attract the attention of those groups who feel they have been treated unjustly or require a different outcome to the recent elections,” Kelly said.

He said with the port operations suspended, those road freight transporters on their way to Maputo or due to return now had to curtail their operations.

“This means trucks are standing, either with or without cargo, and the types of cargo can define whether there will be extended losses beyond penalties for late or no delivery.”

Kelly said this was not the sort of thing that required lobbying for the restart of port operations, as was the case when South African ports have operational failures due to bad management.

“Those transporters who can delay trips and shuffle delivery dates will need to do so. It must be remembered that truckers carry a client’s goods/load, it is not ‘theirs’ and there are two sides on the supply chain regarding the goods.”

Kelly said the danger was that clients to whom the goods are being sent will look for other markets where risks of political and social protest or instability are less.

“The RFA trusts that, with the assistance of the relevant authorities, we can get all foreign drivers and vehicles out of Mozambique as soon as possible, and that the citizens of Mozambique resolve their political differences in a peaceful and considered manner — sooner rather than later.”

BMA spokesperson Mmemme Mogotsi said securing the borders also means protecting infrastructure.

The borders already have police operating at the entry points, including members of the defence force, as their duties include monitoring the borders.

She said no incidents were reported at the Lebombo border post on Thursday except for 15 Mozambican border officials who sought refuge in South Africa.

“They were allowed in as they are Mozambican officials who work at the port. We assisted them by providing what is required to come through the border such as processing them, stamping their passports and ensuring they have all valid documentation,” she said.

However, thousands of Mozambicans in the capital Maputo and Maputo province felt the presence of Mozambique’s security forces who fired rubber bullets, live rounds and teargas at those who peacefully marched to the capital city.

Thursday marked a national march to Maputo after a call by opposition candidate, Venâncio Mondlane, who came second at the polls, for all citizens to show dissatisfaction with the election results by making their way to the capital city.

Mondlane and the party behind him, the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos), had filed a case at the Constitutional Council to determine if the elections were free and fair. Judgment was expected on Thursday. 

The Constitutional Council, however, gave the Mozambique National Elections Commission 72 hours to explain reasons for the discrepancy in the number of voters in elections across the presidential, legislative and provincial assembly votes. 

Eighteen people have been recorded killed allegedly by live rounds from the police since protests started last month. Three more people were killed during Thursday's demonstration, said Amnesty International’s Mozambique campaigner Cídia Chissungo.

“There are documented records on Thursday of people killed. I can only confirm three, but there are possibly many more. Some of the people have been injured, but to reach a hospital is difficult, so we don’t know if these people will make it or not,” she told TimesLIVE Premium.

She said the large number of marchers came from the capital and Maputo province and other provinces, but some were barred by police from leaving their provinces to join the marchers. In addition, businesses shut down in Maputo on Thursday in anticipation of the large march.

However, the brains behind the march, Mondlane, did not join the march on Thursday as he said on social media that he was in hiding in Johannesburg.

Mondlane’s lawyer and a member of the opposition were shot dead while sitting in a car on October 21, which escalated tensions in the country.

Human Rights Watch’s advocacy director Allan Ngari expressed disappointment at the opposition leader’s absence.

“For me, it is disappointing to see how political leaders ask their citizens to go to the streets and fight and they are not there themselves and the people who suffer are the citizens,” he told TimesLIVE Premium.

But his attendance at the march was a risk to his life as his associates were brutally killed a few weeks ago, Chissungo said.

“It would be silly of him to show up in Maputo after his lawyer was killed on October 21 and he himself mentioned in one of his [Facebook] live [videos] that he suffered an assassination attempt. It’s almost clear that he wouldn’t show up in the protest in Maputo as he is one of the main targets right now because of the level of mobilisation in Mozambique. It would be really silly if he showed up to the march on Thursday,” she said.