Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican Minister of the Interior, Arsénia Massingue, is meeting South African Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, in Cape Town today to discuss cross-border crime.
Minister Arsénia Massingue arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday (07-02).
The ministerial meeting follows those between high-ranking police officers from Mozambique and South Africa convened to address the wave of attacks against vehicles with Mozambican number plates on the section of road between the Maputo and Durban.
In total, seven vehicles have been burned, two on the 24th of January, four on the 28th and one on the 30th of January.
The vehicles include a passenger bus and a cargo truck.
After vehement protests by the authorities in Maputo, the police of both countries met in Durban, and in the Mozambican capital, on the 3rd of February.
It was at the end of the Maputo meeting that Minister Massingue announced this Wednesday’s meeting in Cape Town.
“We were quite worried. We made immediate contact with our South African counterpart requesting a meeting, so that we could sit down and discuss this and other issues, but with this one, which is the most critical at the moment, as a priority,” she said.
At the top of the agenda is cross-border crime, with the emphasis on car theft in both countries.
The attacks are suspected to have been in retaliation for the alleged seizure by Mozambican authorities of vehicles stolen in South Africa.
Apparently, criminal groups linked to car theft intend to force the return of such vehicles.
The ministers will also address joint patrolling of the border area between Mozambique and South Africa.
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