Maputo — Much of central Maputo came to a standstill yet again on Wednesday morning as gangs of young men, loyal to fugitive presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, closed down the roads.
This was despite threats by Interior Minister Pascoal Ronda on Tuesday evening that there would be "zero tolerance' for any illegal demonstrations.
But, just as happened last week, demonstrators imposed their own rules on the roads - they let through a few vehicles, such as ambulances and press cars, but most motorists found they could not continue their journeys. Ronda's promise that movement on the roads would return to normal proved worthless.
Crews from the independent television stations STV and TV Sucesso found the roads deserted. The toll gate on the road between Maputo and the neighbouring city of Matola was open and fully functional - but no motorists were using it.
Gangs of youths blocked the road at the first footbridge over the motorway, and no vehicles were prepared to run the gauntlet. Members of the armed forces (FADM) stood by and watched, but made no attempt to intervene.
In the downtown area of Maputo shops and informal stalls were open, but with very few customers.
However, as from about 09.00, the military began to remove barricades from main roads such as 24th July and Guerra Popular Avenues. The removal of obstacles allowed vehicles to use the road - although few were prepared to take that risk.
This military intervention was bloodless. By 10.00, no shots had been fired and no tear gas had ben used. But the demonstrators were not dispersing.
Cars could drive to Maputo shops before 08.00, when Mondlane's shutdown began. They will be able to leave again at 15.30.
In a live broadcast, transmitted on Monday on his Facebook page, Mondlane called for "total paralysis: cars, buses and other means of transport must remain parked'. He wanted this shutdown of transport to last for eight days - from this Wednesday to next Wednesday (11 December).
He also demanded that car owners place anti-government posters on their vehicles. The unspoken threat is that anyone disobeying this instruction can expect a brick through their window.
Mondlane also called for the closure of all offices of the ruling Frelimo Party - but, speaking in the northern city of Nampula, Frelimo Political Bureau member Filipe Paunde declared that all Frelimo offices will remain open.
Mondlane also wanted to shut down the airports, which had remained largely untouched in previous unrest. The Mozambican Airport Company (ADM) insisted that the airports will remain open and that the demonstrators will be unable to affect the arrival or departure of flights.
Mondlane is inflicting huge damage on the Mozambican economy, in the name of "rescuing the truth about the elections' - he insists that he won the 9 October presidential election, and that the party which backs him, Podemos, won the parliamentary election. But he has not yet produced the polling station minutes and results sheets ("editais') which would prove this.
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At his Tuesday press conference, Ronda declared that the demonstrations are illegal because they do not obey the law on freedom of assembly - for example, the organisers have not told the authorities when they will demonstrate or the routes they will use. But this is true of almost all of Mondlane's demonstrations, since the unrest began on 21 October.
Intervention of the defence and security forces, the Minister added, was in order to restore "the normal functioning of public and private institutions' and should not be interpreted as an excessive use of force.
