By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Border Management Authority (BMA) has temporarily halted operations at the Lebombo port of entry due to ongoing protests.
BMA commissioner Michael Masiapato said the decision to suspend operations was based on advise from the Mozambican government to not send any vehicles over the border.
He said the protests, described as non-violent, have blocked the Maputo corridor, affecting traffic flow. “The continuing and intensified protest on the Mozambican side of the port is mainly driven by those protesting about the situation in Mozambique,” said Masiapato.
“Our counterparts from Mozambique indicated to us the protesters have actually blocked the Maputo corridor… so on that particular basis, we had to temporarily suspend the processing of border-related activities.”
At least 40 people have died in the violence that erupted following the announcement of Daniel Chapo, the president-elect from the Frelimo party.
Mozambican opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane called for fresh protests and encouraged supporters to target trade routes with neighboring South African and Zimbabwe.
The fiery former lawmaker, who rejects the outcome of the 9 October ballot as fraudulent, urged truck drivers plying the routes to the Beira port in the centre of the country and Maputo port in the south to blockade them for three days, starting Wednesday.
The call ratchets up risks to the southeast African nation’s economy, which is already straining under weeks of turmoil since the vote.
Mozambique has witnessed a wave of protests since late October when Daniel Chapo, the presidential candidate of Mozambique’s ruling Mozambique Liberation Front party, was declared winner of the Oct. 9 elections.
Chapo, 47, won with a commanding 71% of the vote, defeating his closest challenger, Mondlane of the Podemos party, who secured just 20.32%.
The Port of Maputo has become a noteworthy competitor to South African ports, overtaking Durban in the World Bank’s container port performance index for 2023. It came in 329th out of 405 ports globally, while Durban was ranked 399th.