Maputo — Schools in Maputo and the neighbouring city of Matola are reopening on Monday, following a three day closure caused by the rioting of 1-2 September.

A statement from the Ministry of Education distributed to all schools said that the rioters had shown disrespect for the country's laws, and for the rights of citizens, and of children in particular.

It called on pupils to dedicate themselves to their studies, "preventing schools from becoming a source of agitation". It urged teachers to behave in "an impartial and disciplined way, and to continue, through acts and words, to educate children, youths and adults in standards of loyalty, respect, responsibility and love for the country".

In central Maputo, traffic was flowing normally on Monday morning, and shops and banks opened at the usual time. By mid-morning no disturbances had been reported.

According to a report in the independent newsheet "Mediafax", the government has ordered troops to support the police in their patrols of the city, particularly at the key points in last week's unrest. These include public transport terminals and city markets. The soldiers have also helped in the clean-up operations, removing the remains of the barricades thrown up by the rioters.

"Mediafax" remarks that the government ought to have called on the defence and security forces immediately mobile phone text messages began circulating last week, calling for protests against food rises on Wednesday. Instead, what happened was that "up until four hours after the start of the disturbances in several places, prone by their very nature to acts of vandalism, there was not a single law and order officer present, which created the conditions for the demonstrations to degenerate into looting, pillage and theft'.

The number of people detained in connection with the riots has risen to 150, following the detention of eight individuals involved in renewed attempts on Friday to set up barricades of burning tyres in parts of Matola.

The Maputo daily "Noticias" reports that rioting and looting on Friday in the central city of Chimoio led to the destruction of 160 stalls in the Francisco Manyanga informal market. Rioters set the stalls on fire, but the stallholders (selling fish and second hand clothes) had removed their merchandise earlier in the day.

The spokesperson for the Manica Provincial Police Command, Belmiro Mutatiwa, said that the police are continuing to make arrests as they look for the ringleaders of the disturbances.