Mozambique: Police intervene to reopen N4 access to Maputo – photos

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Mozambique: Police intervene to reopen N4 access to Maputo – photos

1:09 CAT | 23 Jan 2025

Photo: Lusa

Mozambican police have fired several shots in the course of reopening the Maputo toll booth on the N4, the main entrance to the capital, which has been blocked since the early hours by users protesting the resumption of tolling.

At around 10:30, after the police removed the heavy vehicles blocking access, groups of young people gathered near the toll booth, trying to prevent traffic from returning to normal. The police fired several shots to disperse them in response to which stones were thrown at vehicles entering the area.

After the police intervened, groups of young people tried to repeat the blockade on the access road from Matola to Maputo, preventing trucks from passing, actions that were opposed by the police.

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This morning, protesters completely blocked access to the Maputo toll booth, the main entrance and exit to the Mozambican capital, for over an hour, with barricades and heavy vehicles blocking the way.

After the police intervened, traffic began to resume, but at the toll booths it was clear that only those who wanted to pay were paying, with some toll barriers open.

Since around 9:00 local time today, two trucks had been abandoned on the road in the Maputo-Matola direction, while in the opposite direction an articulated bus was also abandoned, completely blocking traffic for part of the morning.

Faced with heavy police reinforcements, including an armoured vehicle from the Rapid Intervention Unit(UIR), protesters burned tyres to challenge the resumption of toll collection on the N4, Mozambique’s main road that connects Maputo to the South African border, operated by the South African concessionaire Trans African Concessions (TRAC), which had announced that it would resume payment today.

Given the difficulty of movement, including public transportation, hundreds of people were walking to the centre of the capital, with no traffic at the toll booths.

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TRAC, the concessionaire of the N4 highway, had announced on Wednesday that it would restart toll collection today, after it had been suspended in recent weeks during post-election protests.

The information was contained in an announcement under the title “Maputo toll restarts collections on Thursday”, published by TRAC, the concessionaire of the expressway that connects Tshwane, Gauteng (South Africa) and the port of Maputo (Mozambique), via the Ressano Garcia border.

The border has also been closed at various times in recent months due to post-election protests.

TRAC recalls that it operates the N4, considered the best road in Mozambique, “under a concession agreement signed with the road agencies of South Africa and Mozambique”, and that this road is “a vital part of the Maputo Corridor Development Plan, boosting regional economic growth and connectivity”, which ensures the export of South African minerals via the Mozambican coast.

“Toll fees finance the construction, modernisation and maintenance of roads, ensuring international standards”, reads the TRAC announcement.

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In December, during the post-election protests in Mozambique, former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane called for the non-payment of road tolls across the country, and after the destruction and vandalisation of some toll booths, several were closed and roads, including the N4, had been free to use.

Meanwhile, in a document published on Tuesday with 30 measures that he demands be implemented over the next 100 days, Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognize the official results of the general elections of October 9, once again highlighted the non-charging of tolls throughout the country as a demand.

“On the N4, the toll fees, given their lifespan, have fulfilled the time of profitability in relation to the investment made,” states the document signed by Venâncio Mondlane, demanding the continued suspension of tolls during this period. Mondlane also stressed that, on several toll roads in the country, “there was no public consultation” about the toll fee collections and that “the principle of an alternative route [to the toll route] was not respected”.

“Many of the roads are in a disastrous state, which offends the idea of [road users] benefiting from services,” he stated.

The post-election protests in Mozambique, called by Venâncio Mondlane, have since October 21 caused 314 deaths and more than 600 shootings, according to organizations on the ground, such as the electoral platform Decide, in addition to violent clashes with the police, looting and destruction of public and private facilities.

Daniel Chapo, presidential candidate supported by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, in power), was declared the winner of the October 9 elections and took office as the fifth President of the Republic on January 15.

Source: Lusa