Protesters blocked the N4 due to the return of tolls. An hour and a half later, police started shooting.
Very busy morning N4, main entry and exit access route Maputo.
TRAC, concessionaire of the N4 road – built and operates the expressway under a 30-year contract with the Mozambican Government – announced on Wednesday that restart toll collection today on that road, suspended in recent weeks following post-election protests.
The company recalls that it operates the N4, considered the best Mozambican road, “under a concession agreement signed with the road agencies of South Africa and Mozambique”, with this route being “a vital part of the Development Plan for the Mozambican Corridor”. Maputo, boosting regional economic growth and connectivity”, which immediately ensures the export of South African minerals along the Mozambican coast.
Former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane calls for non-payment of tolls in the country, and after the destruction and vandalization of some toll booths, several booths were closed, without receiving payments, including on the N4. “On the N4, the tolls, given their lifetime, have been profitable given the investment made”, says Venâncio Mondlane.
This Thursday morning, protesters cut completely access to the Maputo toll, with barricades and heavy vehicles crossed, contesting the resumption of charging.
Since around 09:00 local time (two hours less in Lisbon) two trucks stayed abandoned on the road towards Maputo – Matola, with dozens of protesters in protestwhile in the opposite direction a bus articulated was also abandoned, completely blocking circulation.
Faced with strong police reinforcement, including an armored vehicle from the Rapid Intervention Unit, the protesters burned tires.
Faced with the difficulty of movement, including transport, hundreds of people travel the late the way to the center of the capital, without any movement of cars at the toll booths.
Police started shooting
An hour and a half later, the police Mozambican woman began to resort to various shots to reopen toll access.
At around 10:30 am, after the police removed the trucks that were blocking access, groups of young people gathered near the toll gate, trying to prevent the normalization of traffic, with the police firing several shots to demobilize in the following minutes, who reacted shooting stones, including the vehicles who accessed the site.
After police intervention, groups of young people tried to repeat the blockade of access to the Matola to Maputo, preventing trucks from passing, actions opposed by the police.
Last Friday, for each protester killed: “Each element of the population murdered by a police officer automatically pays in the same coin”, he said, invoking the “Law of Talion [do Antigo Testamento]. A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye. Take it, give it here”.
Since October 21st, when the challenge to the process surrounding the October 9th general elections began, the Decide electoral platform record has accounted for more than 6oo people shot and more than 300 dead.