Consulate of Portugal has already issued an alert and the situation did not go unnoticed to personalities such as Gilmário Verca or Isabel dos Santos
The city of Luanda lives. This Monday, the 28th, was marked by chaos: barricades, burning tires, shootings, stoning buses, stores and clashes with police have multiplied in various parts of the Angolan capital. There are deadly victims, but authorities have not yet confirmed the official number.
It all started with the increase in fuels
For several weeks that Angolans, asphyxiated by the increase in the cost of living in the country, go to the street organized in social contestation movements. However, this time the protests reached another dimension.
The origin of the current malaise dates back to the climb of the price of diesel, which went from 300 to 400 kwanzas per liter (about 28 to 37 cents) at the beginning of the month. This is the same as in Portugal the price of diesel increases 54 cents at once, based on the average salaries of both countries.
This change is part of the Angolan government’s policy of gradually removing fuel subsidies, a measure that began in 2023 to relieve pressure on public accounts.
In response, the National Land Transportation Agency (ANTT) has readjusted public transport tariffs, which aggravated the cost of living in a country where much of the population depends on informal transportation (such as collective taxis) to move.
Taxi drivers strike: the rastil that burned the city
The drop of water came with the stoppage of taxi services, summoned to July 28, 29 and 30 by various associations and class cooperatives, with the motto “Stay home”. The protest aimed to press the government to negotiate solutions to the activity, which they say it is unsustainable. They require stops for vehicles that conduct and the creation of a professional portfolio of the sector.
On the first day of the strike, thousands of people were caught in the middle of the whirlwind, including workers without transportation and citizens without secure mobility alternatives.
Violence and Vandalism
The National Association of Angola Taxi drivers (Anata) has been publicly demarcated from acts of violence, attributing the disorders to “opportunists” and “elements foreign to the class”. Anata also announced the suspension of the strike, stressing that the protest was designed to be “peaceful, orderly and silent.”
Nevertheless, the scenario of urban disorder continued. The Angola National Police have stopped more than 100 people suspected of acts of vandalism during the day. 20 public buses were completely destroyed.
Several people were seen burning posters with the image of João Lourenço. The security of the Presidential Palace, the official residence of the President of the Republic – which is visited to Portugal – was reinforced, using police and military.
The Angola National Police, however, describes the situation in the capital as “small outbreaks of disorder” that had “under control” but promises drastic measures against those responsible.
The city woke up on Tuesday with the doors of commercial establishments, banks and institutions. Companies chose to place employees on teleworking to ensure employee safety. The silence dominates the main avenues, where there is no “Candogueiro” (blue and white taxi) or circular bus.
The Association of Angola Commerce and Modern Distribution Companies (Ecodima) has expressed profound concern about the risk of supplying essential products, which may have broader economic and social consequences in the coming days.
The Angolan Interior Ministry classified events as “premeditated criminal actions”, which undermine public stability and represent an attack on the democratic and law.
In view of the situation, it issued a warning to Portuguese citizens, recommending prudence, surveillance and avoiding unnecessary travel.
Criticism of the government action
Among the Angolan public figures, criticism of the government multiplies.
The humorist to share an outburst about the situation that the country is going through, accompanied by videos of the protests.
“True vandalism is to ignore the cry of the people. It is to increase the price of fuel without guaranteeing public transport to people and goods. We have to start to ask ourselves who is the true vandal. Who is really vandalizing the welfare of the Angolan citizen. It will be the one who screams every day for a little food on the plate or the one who assumed to improve people and did not do and even worse, ignore him completely?”
Businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, former president of Sonangol’s Board of Directors, Angola’s national oil company, accuses the current government of “mismanagement” and “bad governance”. Criticizes the “high prices”, namely fuel, which is “very high for salary”.
