Mozambique: Maputo Municipality reports €335,000 in damages after two vehicles burned – Watch

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Maputo Municipality reports €335,000 in damages after two vehicles burned – Watch

1:16 CAT | 11 Aug 2025

"It's a huge amount and a very large loss," Sérgio Manhique, director of sanitation for the Maputo Municipal Council, told the press regarding the destruction of an excavator and a garbage truck, estimated at 25 million meticais (€335,600), in a municipality which was already facing difficulties with waste collection. [Screen grab: Miramar]

Maputo Municipality estimates the damage caused by the torching of vehicles in Thursday’s riot at the Hulene landfill by garbage collectors at over €335,000. It is currently attempting to restore collection services.

“It’s a huge amount and a huge loss,” director of sanitation for Maputo Municipal Council told the media, referring to the damage caused by the destruction of an excavator and a garbage truck, estimated at 25 million meticais (€335,600), in a municipality that was already facing difficulties with waste collection.

For Manhique, the two vehicles, among six operating in the area, will be “missed” in the daily operations of the dump.

“It was a terrible situation, terrible violence (…). In addition to setting fire to the vehicles, they beat some drivers,” he said.

“Little by little we will try to re-enter [Hulene garbage dump], because garbage collection cannot stop,” he added.

At issue is the Thursday riot by a group of garbage pickers in Hulene, the largest open-air dump in the country, following a police operation in which several suspects were arrested for involvement in “acts of disorder and vandalism”.

According to the Maputo Municipality representative, all activities were halted after the vandalism: “It was not possible to dump the garbage.”

“We’ve already started moving some vehicles,” he explained.

In a statement, Maputo Municipal Council explained on the day of the incident that the joint operation between the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) and the Municipal Police took place around 10:00 a.m. in the Hulene landfill area, and resulted in the arrest of “some individuals.”

READ: Mozambique: Two vehicles set on fire in Maputo after arrests for vandalism

“After it was assumed that the situation was under control, the joint force received information that some waste pickers had surrounded a solid waste collection truck, as well as an excavator, forcibly removing the operators and then setting fire to the vehicles,” the document reads.

According to the Maputo Municipality, there was “some unrest” during the operation, but order was “promptly restored” by the police on the ground.

“The operational action culminated in the arrest of several individuals identified as leaders of waste picker groups, who, since the protests, have been carrying out acts of disorder and vandalism in that area, particularly on Julius Nyerere Avenue,” the municipality stated.

Search and capture operations are also underway to hold those allegedly responsible for setting the vehicles on fire.

Mozambique has experienced a climate of intense social unrest since the elections, with demonstrations and strikes called by former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who rejects the election results that gave victory to Daniel Chapo, supported by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), the ruling party.

The worst post-election crisis was also marked by violent clashes between police and protesters, as well as vandalism and looting.

According to non-governmental organizations monitoring the electoral process, around 400 people died in clashes with the police, conflicts that ceased after two meetings, in March and May, between Mondlane and Chapo, aimed at pacifying the country.