Rede Viária de Moçambique (REVIMO), responsible for the construction, conservation and operation of several national roads, will resume collecting tolls from Monday 27 January, suspended due to the post-election protests, the company announced on Saturday (26).
‘We would like to inform you that, as of Monday, toll collection will resume […] under our management,’ reads a statement issued by Revimo.
In the document, the company states that the fees collected through tolls guarantee the maintenance of road infrastructures, saying that it will continue to implement measures to mitigate costs, ‘including discounts’ for collective passenger transport and frequent users.
‘We reaffirm our commitment to continue improving our services and offering solutions that benefit all users,’ the organisation said.
Revimo ended 2024 with the management of 675.1 kilometres of roads in five provinces of Mozambique, with 16 tolls (33% more than in 2023), and recorded an 11.3% increase in average annual daily traffic, which rose to 53,000 vehicles.
The concessions handed over by the state to Revimo include the N6 Beira-Machipanda road, with a length of 287 kilometres (km), the Maputo ring road, with 71.4 km, including the R804 Marracuene – Macaneta road, with a length of 12 km, and the Maputo KaTembe Bridge and its connecting roads with 187 km.
On Thursday, the South African company Trans African Concessions (TRAC), concessionaire of the N4 road, which links Maputo to the Ressano Garcia border, resumed charging tolls, causing popular revolt, with protesters blocking the road and the police firing several shots to reopen access to the Maputo toll.
Since 21 October, Mozambique has been experiencing a climate of strong social unrest, protests, demonstrations and stoppages, called by former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, with violent clashes between the police and demonstrators, as well as looting and destruction of public and private facilities.
Venâncio Mondlane does not recognise the proclaimed results of the general elections on 9 October, which gave victory to Daniel Chapo, who has already been sworn in as the fifth Mozambican President.
According to the Decide electoral platform, a non-governmental organisation that monitors electoral processes in Mozambique, at least 315 people have died in these protests, including around two dozen minors, and at least 750 people have been shot.
Lusa
