Transporters are proceeding with extreme caution at South Africa’s reopened Lebombo Border Post with Mozambique on the N4 Maputo Corridor, a road freight operator based in Komatipoort has said.
The source, who works for a fleet carrying bulk to the Grindrod-run Matola commodities terminal, said: “Trucks are flowing in both directions but we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
He said there was a tangible atmosphere of apprehension among operations at the border after last week’s election violence that sparked wholesale destruction of the customs facilities at Ressano Garcia Border Post and the truck-staging area at Kilometre Four (KM4).
“There’s an army and police presence at KM4 but we don’t know how long that is going to last. Who knows what could happen tonight. I don’t think it will be safe to use the border.”
This is despite Mozambican Tax Authority spokesperson, Fernando Tinga, assuring industry that the border will revert to 24-7 operations under the watchful eye of heavily armed soldiers.
The relative calm that had settled on the border since operations reopened on Saturday has the spectre of a new wave of election unrest hovering over it after Venâncio Mondlane, presidential candidate for Podemos, said the opposition party wasn’t finished with protesting against Frelimo’s alleged rigging of the October 9 elections.
Apart from European Union observers reporting “election irregularities”, a journalist with Zitamar News, Tomás Queface, said there were serious grounds for investigating the election results.
He also confirmed to Newzroom Afrika the threats that Mondlane had made regarding continued protest action.
Tinga said for the period towards the latter part of last week when no trade had passed through the border, Mozambique had suffered revenue losses of about 400 million meticais, about US$6.3 million.
In addition to Mondlane’s threats, it is also understood that tensions are simmering among the youth in Mozambique, with information emerging that trade disruption demonstrations could continue.
Apparently, it is expected that foreign-owned transporters will leave Mozambique.
A statement, whose source can’t be verified, said although protestors were prepared to work with road freight operators, there was also no guarantee of sustained military and police presence at Ressano.
“Our safety isn’t guaranteed,” the Komatipoort transporter said.
While trade continues through the tense transit for the time being, it has also been confirmed that operations at the Matola and Maputo port terminals recommenced on Friday.
