Fire hits Malanga market in Maputo
Mozambique: Government denies alleged protests at Sasol, warns against fake news
3:27 CAT | 09 Sep 2019
File photo: Macauhub
The government of Inhambane province has denied that workers of South African company Sasol have staged protests in response to attacks on foreigners in neighbouring South Africa.
Provincial Director of Mineral Resources and Energy, Salomão Mujui, has appealed to Mozambicans not to be influenced by the images circulated on social networks purportedly portraying alleged acts of retaliation against South African workers at the natural gas company in Inhambane’s Inhassoro district.
Mujui says the images circulating are as old as 2016 and promises that there is no friction between foreign and Mozambican workers at Sasol.
“These are videos are from 2016 and are being used to stir the population or the workers, who may be from other companies,” Mujui was quoted as saying by Radio Mozambique, the national broadcaster.
He acknowledged that seeing these images might cause some people to mistakenly assume that this is was happening at Sasol and ‘jump on the bandwagon’, and reiterated that the images were not a true reflection of the current situation at Sasol.
“At this moment we have no wave of demonstration at Sasol. We call on people who are posting those images not to continue causing unrest within the workers as well as the general population,” he said.
Mujui siad Inhambane Governor Daniel Chapo had visited Sasol a few days ago under the local development agreements, and noted that there were no demonstration at any of its companies.
“So we call on people to be calm and serene, because there is no demonstration here in Inhambane province,” he said.
However, the Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM) has criticised the silence of the Mozambican government in the face of the wave of xenophobic violence in South Africa, and called a press conference in Maputo on Saturday to express his disappointment and draw the attention of countries whose citizens are suffering from xenophobic violence to the problem.
Last Friday, the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) indicated that at least 544 Mozambican victims of xenophobia were homeless and seeking assistance from the Mozambican government. Of this number, 397 had expressed a desire to return to Mozambique.
INGC Director Augusta Maita said the Embassy of Mozambique in South Africa was canvassing people in need of assistance in order to identify their needs and design the best forms of support.
Mentors of violence in South Africa, which has already killed at least 10 people, justify their actions by accusing foreigners, especially Africans, of stealing their jobs.
Source: Noticias
Show comments
Also read
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.