16 dead in latest bout of rioting

Maputo, 13 Dec (AIM) – Rioting across Mozambique, in the demonstrations called by fugitive presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, caused the deaths of at least 16 people in the period between 4 and 11 December, according to the spokesperson for the General Command of the police, Orlando Mudumane.

Speaking to reporters in Maputo on Thursday, he said 409 violent breakdowns of public order had been recorded over the week. Of the 16 fatalities, 12 were rioters and four were members of the police. 73 people had been injured in the clashes.

Mudumane said that 11 police posts had been attacked. The rioters had broken into 76 shops, and looted 12 private homes. Nine vehicles had been set on fire. The police made 120 arrests.

As in previous press conferences, Mudumane blamed the unrest on members and supporters of the Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos), the main party that supported Mondlane’s presidential bid.

He claimed that Podemos attacked police posts in order to steal guns and free prisoners held in the cells.

Podemos leader Albano Forquilha has rejected these accusations as completely untrue, and Podemos is now suing Mudumane for libel.

Mudumane claimed that the rioters were “manifestly drunk or drugged, mobilised in vehicles to move from one neighbourhood to the next, where they looted shops, blocked roads and extorted illegal tolls from motorists”.

But the Maputo streets have now largely returned to normal. On Thursday and Friday there were no barricades on the main roads, no piles of burning tyres, no groups of young men enforcing Mondlane’s orders.

Mondlane himself has disappeared from the airwaves. He had kept in contact with his supporters through live broadcasts, transmitted from an undisclosed location over his Facebook page. But for the past two days there have been no new broadcasts.

Instead, there have been repeats of Mondlane’s claim that he will be sworn in as President of the Republic on 15 January. He also promised a new wave of protests that he called “Turbo V8”, but he did not explain what these might consist of.

Most of the country was calm on Thursday, with the notable exception of Ressano Garcia, the main border post between Mozambique and South Africa.

Here, inspired by Mondlane’s demand that nobody should pay any taxes, massive tax evasion was taking place, as large amounts of merchandise were taken from South Africa into Mozambique without paying any customs duties.

According to a report in the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique”, on Wednesday morning dozens of trucks, laden with a great variety of goods, crossed the border without undergoing any kind of inspection.

The tax moratorium proposed by Mondlane was intended for small scale informal traders, but the large trucks taking advantage of this did not look at all informal. Even if they were not carrying drugs or other prohibited goods, they were certainly dealing a blow against the Mozambican exchequer.

The police and military moved in to restore order to the border, and the result was violent clashes in which tear gas and live ammunition was used. At least one person was reported to have died.

As of Friday morning, normality had not been restored to Ressano Garcia. The South African authorities have warned their citizens to avoid Ressano Garcia, and enter Mozambique by other border posts.

(AIM)

Pf/ (557)