Importers suspend trips to South Africa

The Mozambican Association of small scale importers, known as “mukheristas”, has decided to suspend trips to South Africa to prevent possible violence against Mozambican trucks during the current protests. According to the president of the association, Sudekar Novela, quoted by the Maputo daily “Noticias”, the action aims to safeguard the physical integrity of operators in the sector and avoid possible damage caused by the looting of goods.

Several South African services were closed on Monday, and the “mukheristas” fear that the attacks on vehicles with Mozambican number plates will worsen again with the protests called in South Africa for this week.

The protests are against the rising cost of living, and the constant power cuts, and led by the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, which is calling for the resignation of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Despite this scenario, Novela guaranteed that his members have enough stock to supply the Mozambican market for short period.

“At the moment there is no reason for concern because the Zimpeto Wholesale Market in Maputo has goods to supply the city for a few weeks without any restrictions”, he claimed.

In recent days, the price of fresh products in Zimpeto has fluctuated as a result, on the one hand, of the flooding of crops in the production fields and, on the other, of rising acquisition costs in South Africa. Hundreds of people were arrested in South Africa on Monday, the first day of the EFF protests, but the country was not brought to a standstill.