Skip to content

The poor have had enough

Violent protests by Mozambique’s deprived masses are making the country’s economic problems into a political problem for the government

Protesters, mostly young, blocked access to the N4 highway near the Maputo-Matola toll gate yesterday. Traffic on the road linking the city of Maputo to the South African border was stopped for around 12 hours. Photo © Faizal Chauque / Zitamar News

Good afternoon. If the Mozambican government was hoping that anti-government protests were fading away, then those hopes must have died out yesterday, when violence flared up at toll gates in and around the city of Maputo (see below).

But the violence was not limited to the Maputo area, or to toll gates; in the town of Manhiça, protesters destroyed the mayor’s house in retaliation for police behaviour, while in Xai-Xai, the capital of the central province of Gaza, shops were forced to close in a protest over prices. In addition, locals in Xai-Xai are said to be occupying idle land. This is a recurring tactic of disgruntled people who resent seeing land (frequently acquired in a corrupt manner by well-connected people in the ruling Frelimo party) go unused, while they struggle to find a plot to build a house. Anti-government protests in Maputo are not too surprising, but they are more surprising in the supposed Frelimo stronghold of Gaza.

It has been clear for some time now that the protests that sprang up following last year’s contested elections were not just about election fraud, but about dissatisfaction with the state of the country. The demonstrations may also now be acquiring a life of their own, independent of Venâncio Mondlane, the former opposition presidential candidate who instigated the protests to contest the election results. 

It is true that Mondlane has called for highway tolls to be suspended, and that has emboldened protesters to block highways, attack toll gates and even threaten to set fire to a fuel tanker in order to enforce the demand. But yesterday’s actions were also about blocking roads and not just suspending tolls. The highway between Maputo and Matola was blocked for around 12 hours in the daytime, causing disruption for the many people who commute between Mozambique’s two biggest cities. The N1 highway, the only north-south main road in the country, was also blocked at Manhiça.

It should be noted that the people protesting about tolls generally do not have to pay them. The protesters are for the most part poor young people without secure jobs who live near the gates. The toll gates symbolise the corrupt wealth of Frelimo: it is assumed that the party and its senior figures are getting a share of the profits. A rumour has recently been shared around social media that the Maputo toll gate built by Trans African Concessions, the company which manages the N4 highway, was not needed as part of the concession contract and was just installed to make money for former president Joaquim Chissano, whose government signed the contract.

What the poor do have to pay for is food, and prices have been going up faster recently: the Bank of Mozambique reported this week that inflation had climbed from 2.84% in the 12 months to November 2024, to 4.15% for the same period to December. It is a big jump for one month, and one that has been felt at grocery stores. The protests in Xai-Xai are thus easy to understand.

Mass poverty and economic inequality are nothing new in Mozambique, but now that poverty and inequality are fuelling protest movements, admittedly quite violent and dangerous ones. Even if President Daniel Chapo’s government persuades the masses to forget about the election fraud that helped (if not enabled) Frelimo to stay in power, they cannot forget how poor they are, or how wealthy their political masters seem to be. As long as they are angry about it, the country will remain partly ungovernable.

From the Zitamar Live Blog:

Zitamar Mozambique Live Blog
Islamic State Mozambique (ISM) remains active in northwest Cabo Delgado, sourcing supplies through looting villages https://www.zitamar.com/cabo-ligado-update-13-26-january/ 🇲🇿 Leia aqui em Português: https://www.caboligado.com/portugues/cabo-ligado-13-26-de-janeiro-de-2025 Sign up for Zitamar’s daily briefing email here Follow Zitamar on our Telegram Channel, on BlueSky, Twitter / X, Facebook, and Linkedin ...to keep abreast of all the latest developments in #Mozambique
Zitamar Mozambique Live Blog
President Daniel Chapo has today completed political appointments to his government by appointing Mateus Saize as justice minister. Saize was up to now a judge on the Constitutional Council. He also appointed the ten secretaries of state for Mozambique’s ten provinces.

Agenda:

  • Today: European Union (EU)’s election observer mission in Mozambique publishes final report on October’s elections
  • Today: Southern African Development Community holds extraordinary summit of heads of state and government in Harare, Zimbabwe, to discuss security situation in Democratic Republic of Congo. President Daniel Chapo is not due to attend
  • Tomorrow: EU mission holds press conference on elections report
  • Monday: Public holiday in Mozambique for Heroes’ Day. No Zitamar Daily Briefing will be published

Today’s headlines:

  • Demonstrators set fire to two toll gates (MozTimes, Lusa, TV Sucesso, O País)
  • Protesters set fire to Manhiça mayor's house (STV, Carta de Moçambique, Canalmoz)
  • Public sector strikes suspended for a month (Mediafax)
  • Frelimo calls for solution to toll protests (Lusa, TV Miramar, Lusa)
  • Shops in Xai-Xai shut down by protests over prices (O País, STV)
  • MDM and Renamo members take seats in parliament (O País, AIM)
  • TotalEnergies failed to persuade Biden government to unlock gas financing (Financial Times)

Demonstrators set fire to two toll gates (MozTimes, Lusa, TV Sucesso, O País)

Two toll gates in and around the city of Maputo were set on fire last night by demonstrators protesting against the collection of tolls, in line with former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane’s demand for tolls to be suspended. This morning, demonstrators in the nearby city of Matola also stormed and set fire to the offices of Trans African Concessions, the South African company that manages the N4 highway and the Matola toll gate. They were reacting to police shooting at demonstrators blocking the N4 near the toll gate, who injured two people. The tolls gates that were set on fire, the KaTembe toll gate in the city of Maputo and the Bela Vista toll gate in the Matutuine district of Maputo province, are both located on the N200 highway, which links the city of Maputo to the tourist town of Ponta do Ouro, and are managed by Revimo, a majority state-owned company. The blockade ended at around 5.30pm yesterday, after more than ten hours.

Protesters set fire to Manhiça mayor's house (STV, Carta de Moçambique, Canalmoz

Demonstrators yesterday afternoon set fire to the official house of the mayor of Manhiça, in Maputo province, in protest at the suspected abduction of a person, who according to newssheet Canalmoz was a supporter of opposition politician Venâncio Mondlane. They were also retaliating over the fatal shooting of two people by the Rapid Intervention Unit riot police. The riots began after protesters went to the district police headquarters to demand the release of the person allegedly kidnapped. They were armed with machetes, axes and other weapons. The protesters set fire to tyres and threatened to storm the headquarters if their demands were not met, after which chaos ensued in the town of Manhiça, with the N1 highway being completely blocked for several hours.

This post is for subscribers on the Zitamar Pro and Zitamar News tiers

Subscribe

Already have an account? Log in

Latest