Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Political Commission of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo, Mozambique’s ruling party), on Thursday expressed solidarity with the victims of attacks on vehicles in South Africa and asked the governments of both countries to guarantee safety on the roads.
“The Political Committee expressed concern about the occurrence of torching of vehicles of Mozambican citizens in the Republic of South Africa and calls on the Government to continue working with its South African counterpart,” reads the final communiqué of yesterday’s meeting.
Joint work should aim at “clarifying the cases and adopting measures to prevent similar situations”, it added.
“The Political Commission is in solidarity with the families affected by these criminal actions,” the statement concludes.
Since last week, at least six Mozambican vehicles, including a bus and a truck, have been set on fire by robbers on South Africa’s R22 road between Hluhluwe and Mbazwane, in the country’s KwaZulu-Natal province.
The section, about 90 kilometres from the Mozambican border, forms part of the route between Maputo and Durban used by various passenger carriers.
Victims told Lusa that they were forced out of the vehicles by armed groups, who then set fire to the vehicles.
The attacks come after local communities in the area complained about the theft of vehicles allegedly then smuggled into Mozambique, which have not been unaddressed.
“Taking the law into your hands by torching vehicles will only exacerbate the problem,” South African National Police (SAPS) Commissioner Fannie Masemola explained at a meeting with the population on Tuesday.
SAPS announced it would reinforce measures to “clamp down on vehicle theft syndicates that are terrorising communities”, in a joint action with the Mozambican authorities.
On Monday, Mozambique’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Verónica Macamo described the situation as “complicated”, and promised that both governments would act to end the insecurity.
On Tuesday, the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, the main opposition party) declared the attacks “repugnant” and demanded that the two governments immediately take coordinated action to address the situation.
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