By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Border Management Authority (BMA) has temporarily opened the Lebombo border on Wednesday, allowing only Mozambican nationals who were going back home.
BMA Commissioner Michael Masiapato, visited the Lebombo Port of Entry on Wednesday, 6 November, to monitor the situation.
The border was temporarily closed on Tuesday night, 5 November, after vehicles and houses believed to belong to immigration officers in Ressano Garcia were torched, as well as the immigration processing offices in Mozambique.
Masiapato said the decision was to allow traffic flow.
He said that South Africans in Mozambique who wish to return to South Africa will be processed.
Trucks supposed to leave South Africa for Mozambique will not be allowed in for safety reasons.
“The trucks that have been stuck on the Mozambican side, that are empty and were meant to come back to South Africa, we will allow them into the country. That is the partial reopening, and we are continuing to monitor the situation together with the Mozambicans. “We will decide on a full reopening only when we are sure that everything on the Mozambican side is stable,” Masiapato said.
Demonstrations started at the end of October in Maputo after Daniel Chapo, the Frelimo candidate, was officially declared the winner with more than 71% of the vote.
Opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane, who came second with 20% of the vote, went into hiding before the results were announced.
He cited fears for his safety after his aide and lawyer were killed as they were preparing to challenge the results.
Human rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday that at least 20 people have died and hundreds more injured and arrested since the beginning of the protests. It described the government’s reaction as the country’s worst crackdown on protests in years.
It also claimed that the government had repeatedly cut internet access across the country and blocked media websites since last Friday.
The country’s defense minister Cristóvão Chume threatened to deploy military forces to quell the ongoing post-election protests, saying they were attempts to overthrow the democratically-elected government.
“If the escalation of violence continues, the armed forces will replace the police on the ground to protect the interests of the state, “Chume said.
Lebombo, one of the four busiest land ports in southern Africa, is about 110km (68 miles) from Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, and about 440km from South Africa’s capital of Pretoria.