Mozambique And South Africa Working On Road Security
Maputo, 31 Jan (AIM) – Mozambican Foreign Minister Veronica Macamo on Monday guaranteed that the government is working with its South African counterpart to investigate the case of vehicles belonging to Mozambican citizens set on fire by mobs of South African rioters.
Six vehicles with Mozambican number plates, including a passenger bus, were attacked, and set ablaze, on the road from Maputo to the South African port city of Durban on Saturday. In response, Mozambican transport companies temporarily suspended operations on the Maputo-Durban route.
Speaking to reporters after a ceremony in which President Filipe Nyusi received the letters of accreditation from new ambassadors, Macamo said “We are working with South Africa. It is our responsibility to take care of Mozambicans and ensure that they are not assaulted or have their vehicles or property damaged or stolen”.
She claimed she had received guarantees that measures are being taken so that there is no repetition of the attacks. The South African authorities were stepping up protection in the places where mob violence was most likely to recur, Macamo said, but gave no details.
As for deadlines, Macamo wanted the matter to be investigated rapidly and answers provided so that the people of both countries can once again travel peacefully without fear of what might happen during the journey.
For his part the National Director of Transport Security in the Ministry of Transport, Fernando Ouana stressed that both countries must work towards clearing up the lack of security on the roads.
The Mozambican companies are sticking to their decision to suspend the Maputo-Durban route. Since Sunday, only vehicles with South African number plates are travelling that route. By midday Monday just three vehicles had left the Mozambican capital for Durban, all of them owned by South African companies.
Fear of mob violence goes well beyond transport operators, and affects Mozambicans living in South Africa. The chairperson of the Mozambican community in the province of Kwazulu-Natal, Jose Calcandasse, told AIM “The threats began last year. Here in Durban, the communities are in despair. Faced with this situation, if the Mozambican government does not intervene very quickly, that will cause many problems”.
Calcandasse feared that the attacks on the roads could be the prelude to a fresh outbreak of xenophobia against foreigners living in South Africa,
(AIM)
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