Maputo, May 8, 2026 (Lusa) - Hundreds of Mozambique’s transport operators went on strike on Friday morning, two days after a diesel price increase of up to 45.5%, leaving thousands of people stranded in the streets of Maputo amid a heavy police presence.
Anibal Antonio, 39, waited from 5:00 a.m. at the Xiquelene market. This hub serves one of the routes for chapas (privately operated minibus transport vehicles) linking the suburbs to central Maputo. He gave up after three hours and supported the drivers' protest.
“Because of the fuel increase, because 36 meticais [over €0.50 per litre] makes no sense, especially the rise in diesel prices (...). Naturally, everything had to stop,” he said.
With no transport available in a central area linking several suburban neighbourhoods to the city, hundreds of people walked kilometres to work in scorching heat.
Mozambique’s government said the 12% rise in petrol to 93.69 meticals (€1.23), introduced on Thursday, was inevitable due to the Middle East conflict affecting international markets Officials are considering a transport subsidy, but previous unfulfilled promises leave drivers and users doubtful.
"And, today, the drivers are upset when the state says it will give a subsidy. They are forgetting that in 2021 it did the same thing and failed to deliver," Antonio said.
“How am I supposed to work? Like this, I can’t work. And then there’s my family. Things are going to get very difficult,” he added Many people worry about losing their jobs due to frequent absences. A fuel crisis has affected the country for several weeks, with no diesel or petrol and long queues reducing transport options.
"Look at this. How many people are here, how many families? Employers will start dismissing employees for failing to attend work," Anibal said before returning home.
In another área of Xiquelene, roughly five kilometres from the city centre, Arsenio Howana, 32, sits behind the wheel. He has worked as a driver for almost 10 years, but his chapa is stationary, like all the others there.
"We cannot work with these prices," he tells Lusa.
He earns 270 meticais (€3.60) per trip. With diesel now at 116.25 meticais (€1.54), he states he cannot maintain the service at the same fare.
Howana said that fares must rise, or the government must subsidise fuel at the pump.
He claimed the transport subsidy does not help. The money does not reach the driver, the owner, or the transport team.
He recommended the state to channel the subsidy to specific petrol stations where drivers could form queues and buy fuel at a discount.
Nearby, drivers block colleagues who try to provide transport and break the protest. They force passengers to leave the vehicles.
Police officers, including the Rapid Intervention Unit (RIU), quickly intervene as they patrol the city on Friday.
Meanwhile, Howana said he worried deeply about the situation on the streets and his financial future.
“I’m very worried because I have a family to support. This is my job. I depend on it to earn a living,” he said.
Mateus Salomão, 33, shared this concern. He has worked as a driver for five years. He watched hundreds of people sitting and waiting for transport that never arrived.
"Everything has stopped because fuel prices rose excessively," the driver said. He drives a diesel vehicle, which faces a 45.5% price increase per litre.
“It’s very complicated. That’s why we stopped, to demand our rights, because it makes no sense for fuel prices to shoot up overnight like this. It’s an absurd way to treat people,” he said, adding that he no longer knew what to do next.
“That’s why we stopped. We preferred to stop (...) Either they increase the chapa fares or they lower fuel prices so we can work, because right now we simply cannot operate,” he added.
“These are families, not just mine. There are many of us and everyone depends on transport. All these people gathered here in Xiquelene also depend on our vehicles and collectives. What is happening in Mozambique is very serious,” Salomão said.
After waiting for an hour and a half, 24-year-old Isabel Batista still had not found a chapa to take her to the beauty salon where she works in the city centre and was close to giving up, especially as her working day, which starts very early, was already effectively lost.
“I could walk,” she said, before immediately worrying about having to face the same problem again at night and potentially walking several kilometres home.
She acknowledged a transport fare increase is almost inevitable, but she does not know how she will afford it.
“If salaries do not rise, I will not be able to pay for transport every day,” she said.
Similar scenes unfolded across much of the city, although some chapa routes continued operating as police maintained a visibly stronger presence in central Maputo following anonymous calls for demonstrations and stoppages that circulated on Friday morning but never fully materialised.
Mozambique's president, Daniel Chapo, said on Thursday that increasing fuel prices was inevitable.
He stressed that prices remain among the lowest in the region and asked for no "unrest."
“When we compare with Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa, we still have the lowest prices (...) Therefore, we cannot allow the enemies of development, peace, and stability to spread rumours and misinformation to agitate the Mozambican people,” Chapo said.
PVJ/LYT // AYLS
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