Ports, terminals and logistics operator Grindrod has hit the pause button on its operations in Maputo and Matola with the outbreak of post-election protests in Mozambique.
The group’s transport solutions cover destinations in Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, SA, Tanzania and Eswatini. It said it would continue to assess the situation before deciding when to resume.
On Wednesday, Maputo port suspended all cargo operations after SA closed the Lebombo port of entry in Mpumalanga — its main border crossing with Mozambique — due to violence on the Mozambican side of the border post.
Mozambican police fired tear gas at thousands of protesters in the capital, Maputo, on Thursday during the biggest demonstration yet against the long-ruling Frelimo.
At least two people were reported killed by police in the “Day of Liberation” march, according to the Mozambican NGO the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).
The protest comes at the end of a week-long general strike called by opposition presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane that has paralysed business and public transport in Maputo and other cities across the country. The protest was due to begin with demonstrators gathering at six points in the city, but riot police launched teargas before they could get under way.
Excessive police force was documented in videos on social media. In one, police are seen firing teargas canisters at point blank range into a group of kneeling protesters.
Other videos show plainclothes police officers roaming streets with AK-47 assault rifles, firing into the air.
The army was deployed on the streets of Maputo on Thursday but has not been used so far for crowd control.
Protesters set barriers alight in the city’s main avenues of Eduardo Mondlane, Joaquim Chissano, Acordos de Lusaka and Vladimir Lenin. The CDD reported that two were killed, and two are in a critical condition after police opened fire in Joaquim Chissano Avenue.
At least 34 people have been killed since October 24 when ruling party Frelimo and its presidential candidate Daniel Chapo won a landslide victory.
Mondlane went into hiding in SA after the results were announced but said he would participate in Thursday’s march. He cancelled his return at the last minute without explaining, Bloomberg reports.
Mondlane said on a live stream on his Facebook page on Monday that he escaped an assassination attempt in Sandton, Johannesburg. The SA Police Service said it had not received a report of any such crime.
Road Freight Association CEO Gavin Kelly told Business Day that Grindrod’s decision to temporarily suspend the Mozambican operations was unsurprising, given that the country was “in a state of turmoil not last seen since the 1970s”. Various manufacturing, storage and logistical companies had decided to suspend their operations in the interest of safety.
“With the port operations suspended, those road freight transporters who were on their way to Maputo or who were due to return have now had to curtail their operations,” Kelly said. “This means trucks are standing — either with or without cargo — and the types of cargo can define whether there will be extended losses beyond penalties for late or no delivery.”
Kelly said the danger for Grindrod and other groups that suspended operations is that they may cause clients to look for other markets with less risk of political and social protest or instability, but lobbying for the restart of port operations was not the solution.
“This is not the sort of thing that requires lobbying (for example for the restart of port operations), as is the case when SA ports have operational failures due to bad management. Those transporters who can delay trips and shuffle delivery dates will need to do so. It must be remembered that truckers carry a client’s goods/load, it is not “theirs” and there are two sides on the supply chain regarding the goods.
“The RFA trusts that with the assistance of the relevant authorities we can get all foreign drivers and vehicles out of Mozambique as soon as possible, and that the citizens of Mozambique resolve their political differences in a peaceful and considered manner — sooner rather than later.”
With protests continuing to escalate, the department of international regulations & co-operation encouraged SA citizens to postpone any nonessential visits to Mozambique until further notice.
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