Maputo — Protests against fares charged by private transport operators broke out on Thursday in Manjacaze district, in the southern Mozambican province of Gaza.

According to a report in Friday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias", residents of the administrative post of Chidenguele threw up barricades on the main road, in protest against increased fares.

The freeze on fares decreed by the government in the wake of the riots in Maputo on 5 February only applies to the urban centres. Fares between provinces or between districts have not been frozen. The protestors found it intolerable that a minibus journey from Chidenguele to the provincial capital, Xai-Xai, had gone up by 25 per cent, from 80 to 100 meticais (at current exchange rates there are about 24 meticais to the US dollars).

The initial reaction to the new fares was to seek a meeting with the transport operators. The meeting was fixed for Monday - but representatives of the minibus owners did not show up.

So on Thursday the barricades appeared, preventing any traffic along the Chidenguele main road. Unlike the disturbances in Maputo, and the copycat riots in the Gaza towns of Chokwe and Chibuto, there was no looting or destruction of property

The spokesperson for the Gaza provincial police command, Benedito Ndeve, said "The people barricaded the road, but they didn't destroy or steal anything".

A police team was sent to mediate between the protestors and the transport operator, in an attempt to find a solution that would not harm the interests of either side.

The protestors agreed to take the barricades down, and life returned to normal. No arrests were made.