- The resumption of the tolls lasted for less than two hours in the midst of chaos and attempts to block the EN4 highway by rioters
- Motorists broke through the gates despite the attempts by police agents in the booths to enforce payment
By Aurélio Muianga and Ricardo Dias
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – The resumption of paying tolls at the toll gate on National Highway Number 4 (EN4), between the cities of Maputo and Matola, as suspended two hours after it had begun, due to rioting, disobedience by motorists, and the failure of police intervention.
EN4 is the motorway between Maputo and South Africa, and it has been operated by the South African company Trans-African Concessions (TRAC) for the past 20 years. TRAC announced on Wednesday that it intended resuming the collection of tolls as from Thursday at the two toll gates (at Maputo and Moamba) on the 100 kilometre long road.
Former Presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane called for the non-payment of tolls in December, and continued non-payment is among the demands Mondlane listed among the measures he wanted the new government to implement in its first hundred days.
Some motorists smashed through the gates before 07.00, despite the presence of a large police contingent. 30 minutes later, reinforcements from the riot police (UIR) arrived. Police agents were placed in the toll booths to oblige motorists to pay the tolls. Other police officers removed the obstacles placed by rioters on the road.
Some rioters threatened to set the toll gate on fire. “We’re going to burn this toll gate”, yelled one young rioter, who lives near the toll gate. “It brings no benefit for us, it’s just for Frelimo. We’re fed up with this”.
Buses and minibuses were unable to continue their journey. So their passengers disembarked, and continued on foot to their destinations, in Maputo or Matola.
At aound 09.00, a trailer truck and an articulated bus were placed about 200 metres from the tollgate, to make it impossible for traffic to move in either direction. About a kilometre from the tollgate, gangs of youths stopped vehicles to order the motorists not to pay the tolls. The police fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse them.
A TRAC statement earlier in the week had claimed that the human, technical and security condition were in place to resume collecting the tolls. TRAC pledged that the tolls would not be increased, but would be the same as those in force before the rioting.
On Thursday, the TRAC director of maintenance, Fenias Mazive, told reporters that the December riots “in addition to the financial costs from the non-collection of the tolls, caused paralysis of building works on the Tchumene and Moamba stretches of EN4", in Maputo province.
"The road surface was damaged, and lampposts were knocked down. There’s still no date for replacing them”, said Mazive. He added that TRAC is still calculating the losses it has suffered.
He added that TRAC has tried to make motorists aware of the importance of the company, which channels part of the money from the tolls to the Mozambican state budget. TRAC regards EN4 as a key part of the Maputo Corridor Development Plan, that will drive regional economic growth. (AM/RD)
