Gaza, Mozambique, Feb. 10, 2025 (Lusa) - South African supermarket chain Shoprite has definitively closed its shop in Macia, Gaza province, in southern Mozambique, following looting during post-election protests, the company announced in a statement which Lusa saw on Monday.
"Shoprite Mozambique (...) has definitively closed the activity of its branch in Macia [in the Bilene district], due to demonstrators' vandalisation and total destruction of the shop," reads the document, issued on Thursday.
According to a statement from Shoprite, which has almost 30 stores in Mozambique, the establishment in the town of Macia was vandalised on 24 December. Its closure left at least 52 people unemployed.
According to the local authorities, at least 16 shops were vandalised and looted during the demonstrations, seven of which closed down completely or partially in the Bilene district.
"The ones that have submitted definitive closure documents are Shoprite and Pep. We have around five that have announced partial closures," said Gracinda Carlos, director of the Bilene Economic Activities Services, quoted today by the private channel STV.
In November, Shoprite temporarily closed its commercial spaces in Maputo and "other high-risk areas" due to the post-election demonstrations following the looting and vandalisation of two shops in the capital.
Since October, Mozambique has been experiencing a climate of strong social unrest, with demonstrations and stoppages called first by former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who rejected the election results of 9 October.
The protests, now on a smaller scale, have been taking place in different parts of the country and, as well as contesting the results, people are complaining about the rising cost of living and other social problems.
Since October, at least 327 people have died, including around two dozen minors, and around 750 have been shot during the protests, according to the electoral platform Decide, a non-governmental organisation that monitors electoral processes.
LN/ADB // ADB.
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