Maputo becomes a ghost town

Maputo, 13 Jan (AIM) – Maputo did not feel like a capital city on Monday morning, with almost no vehicles moving along the main roads.

Monday was the first day in a three day general strike decreed by former presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, set to coincide with the investiture of the new parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, and, on Wednesday, with that of the new president, Daniel Chapo.

Mondlane had called for “peaceful demonstrations”, with no attacks against vehicles or against property. But, in fact, on some of the main roads, the same tactics were used as in previous unrest – heaps of burning tyres, and barricades that blocked some of the capital’s most important routes.

By midday, television crews reported that the police, working in pouring rain, were clearing obstacles on the N4 highway that leads from South Africa to the port of Maputo.

No buses or minibuses could be seen in the city – as on previous occasions, their owners had taken them off the roads, for fear that they might be attacked. Queues of hopeful would-be passengers built up at the bus stops – but they were out of luck, and many had to give up, or set out on long walks to their destinations.

Trains were also not circulating. There was no sign of the suburban passenger trains that are a vital part of the Maputo transport network. A train on the Maputo-Eswatini line was reported to have derailed due to sabotage.

The knock-on effect of the lack of transport was that most shops, banks and other establishments closed.

In the Xiquelene street market, one of the largest in Maputo, a few informal traders braved the rain, spreading out their bananas and other wares under umbrellas. They complained that earlier in the day the police had driven traders away by firing tear gas grenades into the market for no apparent reason.

While the Mozambican economy reeled under yet another blow given the misleading name of “general strike”, the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, was busy swearing its new members into office, under the watchful eye of contingents of heavily armed police.
(AIM)
Pf/ (360)