Maputo, April 17, 2025 (Lusa) - Rede Viária de Moçambique (Revimo), a company responsible for the construction, conservation and operation of a number of major roads in Mozambique, announced on Thursday that it will resume charging users tolls, which were suspended due to protests in recent months. Collection will be resumed "gradually" from Monday, with discounts of 60% for frequent users of light vehicles and 75% for semi-collective transport, Revimo said in a statement. "The payment of toll fees guarantees the maintenance of the roads so that they are safe and well-maintained," the statement reads. Revimo announced on 25 January that it would resume charging tolls in the country, which had been suspended due to the post-election protests. The announcement sparked popular revolt, with cases of road blockades and vandalisation of Revimo toll booths. On 27 January, hundreds of protesters occupied and blocked the accesses between the toll and the Katembe bridge, with traffic to and from Maputo cut off by motorists in protest at the payment. South Africa's Trans African Concessions (TRAC), the concessionaire for the N4 road, which links Maputo to the Ressano Garcia border, also resumed charging tolls on 23 January, with the move also causing popular revolt. On 29 January, demonstrators blocked the N4 access to Maputo, with protests that led to the vandalisation of part of the TRAC facilities near the Maputo tolls, including the destruction of two vehicles. Since October, Mozambique has been seeing widespread social unrest, with demonstrations and stoppages called by former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who rejects the official results of the 9 October general elections, which gave victory in the presidential vote to Daniel Chapo of the governing Frelimo party. Since 21 October, when these protests began, at least 388 people have died, including around two dozen minors, according to Plataforma Eleitoral Decide, a non-governmental organisation that monitors electoral processes. The government has confirmed the deaths of at least 80 people, as well as the destruction of 1,677 commercial establishments, 177 schools and 23 health centres during the demonstrations. On 23 March, Mondlane and Chapo, who was sworn in as president in January, met for the first time and pledged to work to the violence in the country. EAC/ARO // ARO. Lusa