Mozambique: Maputo port halts taking cargo after election unrest

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Mozambique: Maputo port halts taking cargo after election unrest

5:13 CAT | 07 Nov 2024

FILE - The Maputo Port Development Co., in coordination with customs and other relevant Mozambican border authorities, has taken the decision to stop reception of cargo at the Port of Maputo,” the company that operates it said in a note to customers Wednesday. [File photo: AIM]

Mozambique’s Maputo port, a key chrome export hub, has stopped receiving cargo due to ongoing election unrest in the southeast African nation, Bloomberg reports

Riots broke out at Mozambique’s main border crossing with neighbouring South Africa on Tuesday, prompting authorities to close it. The move has left hundreds of trucks carrying cargo including coal, which usually cross the border en route to Maputo daily, stranded.

“The Maputo Port Development Co., in coordination with customs and other relevant Mozambican border authorities, has taken the decision to stop reception of cargo at the Port of Maputo,” the company that operates it said in a note to customers Wednesday.

Tensions have rocketed in Mozambique after its Oct. 9 elections that extended the ruling party’s 49-year rule, and which the opposition rejected as rigged. South African authorities closed the land border at Lebombo after protesters torched vehicles on the Mozambican side, and government officials from that country fled across seeking refuge.

READ: Just In: South Africa shuts Lebombo border post again as situation in Mozambique remains volatile – EWN | Watch

Border Management Authority Commissioner Dr Mike Masiapato says they are monitoring the protests happening in Maputo, however they cannot predict when they will re-open the port. He was speaking to eNCA’s @pule_jones. #eNCA #DStv403 pic.twitter.com/MgTjDW6H67

— eNCA (@eNCA) November 7, 2024