On Monday, dozens of people and vehicles occupied the tollbooth and the Katembe bridge accesses. Traffic to and from Maputo was cut off by motorists contesting the payment, interrupted by the post-election demonstrations in Mozambique.
Shortly before entering the toll lane on the bridge, owned by the Revimo concessionaire, Luís Manuel was preparing to immobilise his car at around 9 a.m. (two hours earlier in Lisbon).
“I’m not prepared and I don’t have any money. This is a disgrace. They’re punishing the people. The people are living in misery, and they still punish the people,” he said, while Estélio, in another lane, waited inside the lorry without paying, hoping that the gate would still open.
“You don’t pay today, the president has decreed that you don’t pay (…) I’m going to wait. There’s no way,” says the driver, referring to an appeal by Venâncio Mondlane, the former presidential candidate contesting the result of the general elections in October.
Inside a bus, Ana Maria, a tomato seller, needed to go into town to do business. The bus wasn’t running and neither was her business, because she had no alternative to get from Katembe to the centre of Maputo: “We can’t walk over this bridge. How can we?”.
So she demanded to pass, like everyone else on the bus.
“You’re not paying today, let them open that toll (…) We want to pass. If the government has no money, where will the people get the money to pay the toll? Where will the money come from?” she asked.
Despite attempts to negotiate with the police and members of Revimo, at around 1 p.m. the situation remained unchanged, with vehicles stopped. There were people on foot on the accesses to the bridge, while others were already trying to do business, selling refreshments and food, given the hours of waiting and the heat, which is over 35 degrees.
The access to Maputo via the Katembe bridge was blocked this morning by motorists protesting against the concessionaire Revimo for charging tolls again, which has not happened in recent weeks due to the post-election demonstrations.
After a few tense moments, dozens of people approached the toll booths and Revimo’s facilities, demanding an end to the tolls. They were repelled by the police at around 10.40 a.m. (two hours earlier in Lisbon) with shots and tear gas grenades, precipitating their escape for a few moments.
One of these grenades smashed the window of a car, one of dozens that was stopped in the queue outside the tollbooth, unable to move forward due to the blockade in front, and exploded inside.
“I was in my car, and it caught fire, burning my seat and everything. I was alone, I was on my way to work, my car was practically the last one in the queue,” said the driver, who suffered abrasions and burns.
The action outraged motorists and others at the scene, who asked the police for answers. This was followed by further tension and attempts at negotiation by the authorities at the scene, which led to the release of a protester, the collector of an informal transport vehicle, who had been arrested a short time earlier in the protest against the return of tolls.
“This is a surprise to us,” said Francisco, disgusted.
“They closed the roads and started shooting. This car burnt to the ground (…) they hurt the owner of the car and that boy who fell,” he added.
The refusal to pay caused huge queues, which led Revimo officials to open the road for a while, at various times, to clear the traffic without the motorists paying, so the passage was made in a festive atmosphere.
Motorists parked a few dozen metres before the toll plaza, blocking traffic on Maputo’s access road. This caused dozens of people to leave their vehicles and walk to the city via the bridge despite the ban on pedestrian traffic. The same happened with the vehicles that returned in reverse on a two-lane highway.
Rede Viária de Moçambique (Revimo), responsible for the construction, maintenance and operation of several national roads, today resumed charging tolls in the country, which had been suspended due to the post-election protests.
South Africa’s Trans African Concessions (TRAC), the concessionaire for the N4 road, which links Maputo to the Ressano Garcia border, resumed charging tolls on Thursday, causing a popular revolt.
Since 21 October, Mozambique has been experiencing a climate of strong social unrest, protests, demonstrations and stoppages called by Mondlane, with violent clashes between the police and demonstrators, which have caused at least 315 deaths, including around two dozen minors, and around 750 people shot, according to the Decide electoral platform, a non-governmental organisation that monitors electoral processes.
Lusa
