Mozambique: Hundreds gather for mass for Portuguese businessman shot in Maputo

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Hundreds gather for mass for Portuguese businessman shot in Maputo

8:07 CAT | 05 May 2025

File photo: Paróquia de Santo António da Polana

Hundreds of people gathered on Monday at the Roman Catholic church of Santo António da Polana, in Maputo, for a mass in honour of José Pedro Alves da Silva, a prominent Portuguese businessman who died after being shot in the Mozambican capital on Friday.

“I worked directly with him,” Joana Zefanias, an employee of Sotubos, the company managed by Alves da Silva, told Lusa. “He was a good administrator – someone who, under his leadership, you would never imagine the company going bankrupt.”

Alves da Silva was shot in the chest while inside his car by unknown assailants who were travelling in another car, at around 1 p.m. local time in the city of Matola, on the outskirts of Maputo.

Mozambican police told Lusa on Friday that he had been the victim of an attempted robbery, ruling out the possibility of a kidnap attempt and adding that the victim was carrying large sums of money when he was shot.

In his honour, during Monday’s mass in Maputo, employees of Sotubos wore T-shirtson which a message was printed: “We will continue to evolve at 1% per day.” – Alves da Silva’s catchphrase at the company.

“He used to tell us that we have to improve by one percent every day,” recalled Zefanias, who was among those wearing a T-shirt with the phrase and her late colleague’s face on it.

‘What I have to say is thank you very much: he will be greatly missed,” said another of José’s colleagues, who preferred to remain anonymous. “He was one of those people who always pushed us to work, made us want to learn more and I thank him because it was through him that I had bread on the table.”

The first details of the investigation indicate that Alves da Silva was hit by a bullet fired from a pistol, but the authorities admit that they do not have “many details about the perpetrators of the shooting” as yet.

“We have already started our operational lines to identify and neutralise the individuals involved in this barbaric crime,” Cláudio Armando, spokesman for the Republic of Mozambique Police (PRM) in Maputo province, told Lusa on Friday.

The victim died while being transported to Maputo’s José Macamo Hospital.

José Pedro Alves da Silva was a director of Sotuos, a well-known company selling pipes and building materials, owned by his father, who is in Portugal – Alberto Silva, a former president of the football club Sporting de Braga, who in 2019 was appointed its ambassador for southern Africa.

Portugal’s president of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, offered his condolences to the late man’s family.

The prime minister of Mozambique, Maria Benvinda Levy, on Sunday assured Lusa that the death is being investigated, and also sent her condolences to the victim’s family

Source: Lusa