Maputo, April 24, 2025 (Lusa) - Dozens of transport workers stopped their activities on Thursday in protest at the Maputo toll for debts accumulated over the last few months of stoppages, recalling the "ordeal" of long journeys made on foot during the post-election demonstrations.
"This stoppage of chapas [passenger minibuses] reminds me of our ordeal during the demonstrations (...) I used to walk from Costa de Sol [a coastal neighbourhood in the city of Maputo] to Matola 700 [a journey of almost 30 kilometres]," Cristina Tembe, an auxiliary worker at a hospital in Maputo who was forced to pass through the tollbooth on foot today due to the lack of transport, told Lusa.
The transport workers' demonstration, which began at 7 a.m. local time (6 a.m. in Lisbon) on National Road Number 4, mainly affected the connection between the cities of Maputo and Matola, a distance of almost 12 kilometres, forcing dozens of people to make the journey on foot.
"My hope now is to walk and catch a transport up ahead. If I can't, I'll have to walk for at least 30 minutes," Xavier Massingue, another resident, explained to Lusa moments after passing the Maputo tollbooth.
During the stoppage, some residents resorted to alternative routes to travel or even to private open-top vehicles, popularly known as "My Love", given the physical proximity with which passengers travel in the freight box and sometimes need to hug each other to avoid falling onto the road.
The Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR) was deployed to the scene to prevent hauliers from blocking the road (EN4), as they have done several times on other occasions in the demonstrations that have marked the country in recent months.
"There's a very sad thing happening in our country. Every time something happens, the first person to arrive is the police. Sometimes it's not the police you want to talk to. Just now, at the White House, the police used tear gas to disperse us, but we don't want any trouble," driver “Samo-G” complained to Lusa, a few metres away from two police vehicles with heavily armed contingents.
The hauliers are contesting the collection of accumulated debts relating to the last few months, a period marked by post-election protests and in which toll payments were suspended following a series of vandalisations.
"We can't be blamed for what others do. Not only the chapeiros [a term used to describe passenger minibuses], but also the state itself and the police pass through there, so why is it only us who have to pay fines?" Joaquim Paulo, another transporter, told Lusa.
The Maputo toll is the responsibility of South Africa's Trans African Concessions (TRAC), the concessionaire for the N4 road, which links Maputo to the Ressano Garcia border.
This is not the first time that the resumption of toll charges has caused confusion on the stretch between Maputo and Matola. On 23 January, TRAC resumed toll collection, also causing popular revolt.
The resumption also caused protesters to block access to the N4 to Maputo on 29 January. Protests led to the vandalisation of part of TRAC's facilities near the Maputo tolls, including the destruction of two vehicles.
Since October, Mozambique has been experiencing severe social unrest, with demonstrations and stoppages called by former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who rejects the election results of 9 October, which gave victory to Daniel Chapo, already sworn in as President.
Since 21 October, when the protests began, almost 400 people have died in a series of clashes between demonstrators and the police, according to Plataforma Decide, a Mozambican non-governmental organisation that monitors electoral processes.
Mozambique's government confirmed at least 80 deaths, 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 met for the first time and a commitment was made to end the post-election violence in the country, although today criticism and mutual accusations continue in the public stances of both politicians.
"All we want now is peace. We want peace and transport to get from work to home and from home to work. That's what we ask of our leaders and that's all," concludes Mozambican Cristina Tembe.
EAC/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
