By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has confirmed that two journalists detained in Mozambique have been released.
Correspondent Bongani Siziba and cameraman Sbonelo Mkhasibe were detained on Thursday “while conducting their professional duties as journalists, reporting on unfolding events within the country”, the news organisation revealed in a statement on Friday afternoon.
DIRCO said following the verification of the two journalists’ credentials and diplomatic engagements from the South African High Commission in Mozambique, the Mozambican authorities released the journalists.
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, Venancio Mondlane of the Podemos party, who secured just 20.32%.
At least 40 people have died in the violence that erupted following the announcement of Chapo, the president-elect from the Frelimo party.
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.
The unrest has impacted regional trade, most notably at the Lebombo border post with South Africa, which was temporarily closed due to demonstrations in the nearby town of Ressano Garcia, disrupting a critical route for goods and commuters.
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.