Mozambican women are faced with with a rising cost of living as they work to provide for their families. (Photo Courtesy David Gough/IRIN)

Maputo — After two days of rioting over price rises, Maputo was mostly calm on Friday, but a few minor disturbances occurred in some outlying neighbourhoods.

AIM reporters who drove across the city reported attempts here and there to set up barricades on major roads. Thus in Maxaquene neighbourhood, on Joaquim Chissano, a group of rioters had placed a blazing tyre in the middle of the road.

In Xikeleni, home to the largest of Maputo's vast informal markets, rioters tried to set up barricades on Julius Nyerere Avenue. An item of furniture had been set ablaze there, when AIM visited the area.

But the main road from Maputo to the north, the scene of dozens of impromptu barricades on Wednesday, was calm.

A strong police presence, including units of the riot police, is evident at flashpoints in the city. The police are patrolling on foot and in vehicles, and have been removing the obstacles placed by rioters in the streets.

But most banks and shops remain closed. Large crowds have gathered at all bus stops - but the small number of buses on the roads cannot transport them all. The publicly owned bus company, TPM, does not have enough vehicles to meet the demand, and most of the privately owned minibuses (known as chapas) are still off the roads, since their owners clearly believe that the riots could resume at any moment.

Meanwhile, the rail and port company, CFM, has announced the resumption of rail transport on its southern lines.

On Thursday CFM had suspended all rail services in or out of Maputo. This followed looting of a goods train in Matola, and fears that rioters had damaged the tracks. CFM brigades checked the Maputo and Matola stretches of track, and gave them a clean bill of health on Friday morning.

Two goods trains (from Swaziland and Zimbabwe) reached Maputo on Friday morning, and the first passenger train from South Africa since the rioting began left the border shortly after midday.

Passenger trains from Maputo to South Africa are scheduled to resume on Friday evening, and a train to Chicualacuala on the Zimbabwean border is scheduled to leave Maputo shortly before 10.00 on Saturday.

CFM points out that the riots led to the cancellation of 31 goods trains, which cost the company losses of around 12 million meticais (about 33,500 US dollars). CFM warns that the timetable will be altered if there are any further disturbances.

Meanwhile, copycat rioting has broken out in the central city of Chimoio. Rioters stoned public transport vehicles in the streets of Chimoio on Friday morning, and most shops and markets in the city closed for fear of looting.