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Mozambique: Chaos in Xinavane – Notícias
5:11 CAT | 23 Feb 2022
Photo: Noticias
Local residents and workers at Açucareira de Xinavane set fire to the police station, a car and two houses and blocked roads, in protest against the arrest of seven workers who have been detained since yesterday at the Manhiça police cells.
Members of the community reportedly decided to support a group of more than 1,500 protesters who set fire to two residences, one belonging to the head of the local Police Station and the other to the head of Security at Açucareira de Xinavane. The latter’s vehicle was destroyed too.
The protesters placed various objects on the roads to prevent the movement of vehicles.
Read: Mozambique: About 4,000 on strike at Xinavane Sugar – RM
The demonstration started on the 31st of January. Workers demand better wages in “A” and “B” categories of workers and payment of the 2020 production incentive bonuses.
The secretary of the Xinavane Sugar Union Committee, Orlando Chume, said that he still cannot provide information on what happened, due to the difficulty of accessing the village.
“The company has already agreed to make this increase, but they claim that it is necessary to say how much to increase in each letter and we cannot say just like that, a meeting between the workers and the employing company is necessary”, explained Chume .
Spokesman for the Police of the Republic of Mozambique ( PRM ), Jorge Martins, confirms the arrest of the seven strikers and says they will be held accountable.
“This is not how you carry out a demonstration. We know that they are in contact with Tongaat Hulett. Those individuals are not going to be released because they caused massive damage,” said Martins.
Meanwhile, it has been announced that the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Celso Correia, is visiting the Açucareira de Xinavane this Thursday [tomorrow] to learn more about the matter, O País reports.
- The main stakeholder at Xinavane sugar mill is Tongaat Hulett, a major South African company which operates four sugar mills in South Africa, two mills in Zimbabwe and two in Mozambique: Xinavane, in Manhiça district, Maputo province, and Mafambisse. in Dondo district, Sofala province, in southern and central Mozambique respectively. [Source: Tongaat Hulett].
Source: Noticias / O País
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