Mozambique: Government promises to reduce road tolls – Watch

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Mozambique: Government promises to reduce road tolls – Watch

8:28 CAT | 06 May 2025

Speaking to reporters after visiting the premises of the company Revimo (Mozambique Road Network), Matlombe gave few details. He said the reductions, coming into force on 15 May, would cover all toll gates, whether owned by the state or not. [Screen grab: TVM]

The Mozambican Minister of Transport and Logistics, Joao Matlombe, on Monday promised that this month the government will reduce the road tolls paid by motorists on the country’s main roads and bridges.

He did not give the percentage of the proposed reduction, but said it was intended to benefit light vehicles and not trucks. He suggested that heavy goods vehicles must pay the full cost of the damage they do to Mozambican roads.

Toll gates were a target for rioters in the post-election unrest in December and January. Several toll gates operated by Revimo were set on fire. Former presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane put himself at the head of the movement against toll gates, and he demanded that the collection of the tolls be suspended until further notice.

A particular flash point for disturbances was the Revimo-operated toll gate at the start of the motorway from Maputo to South Africa. Here the toll for light vehicles is just 40 meticais (about 62 US cents). Reductions are offered for public transport vehicles and for frequent users.

Motorists have repeatedly claimed that the tolls are exorbitant, although it is hard to see how anyone who can afford to put fuel in their cars would find a 40 metical toll difficult to pay.

The other Maputo toll that has come under repeated criticism is the 125 metical toll for light vehicles using the suspension bridge over the Bay of Maputo, on the road from central Maputo to the outlying urban district of Katembe.

Those who complain at this toll have forgotten that, prior to the construction of the bridge, motorists crossing the Bay had to use a ferry service, and the ferry fares cost more than the current bridge tolls.