Riots and Jail Break Kill At Least 248 in Mozambique Post-Election Turmoil
(Bloomberg) -- At least 248 people have died in Mozambique’s escalating post-election turmoil while the deadly unrest prompted a natural gas producer to restrict shipping to neighboring South Africa and a Tesla Inc. supplier to shut operations.
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The death toll jumped this week after a court endorsed the ruling party’s victory in the disputed October election. Meanwhile, more than 1,500 prisoners on Wednesday broke out of a maximum security jail near Maputo, the capital, during which 33 died, police said. By the evening, the authorities said they’d recaptured about 150.
Protests spread across the gas-rich nation after opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane rejected the outcome as fraudulent and called for peaceful protests, but riots broke out that led to mass looting and arson in Maputo and neighboring Matola city. The violence prompted South Africa’s Sasol Ltd. to reduce production at its Mozambique facility. Earlier this month Tesla supplier Syrah Resources Ltd. declared force majeure at its graphite mining operations.
The demonstrations will likely continue, targeting main roads and mining operations, said Gustavo Placido, an analyst at Horizon Engage in Lisbon. Still, he sees the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front maintaining power as its leadership grapples with how to deal with the opposition that insists it won the Oct. 9 elections.
“This is a tough negotiation. No one wants to make concessions,” Placido said. “The country is burning, investors are scared.”
Sasol, which extracts gas and pipes it to neighboring South Africa to make gasoline, reduced output “to maintain the safety of our people and assets,” it said in a statement Wednesday. The company informed other gas customers that it’s unable to maintain full supply.
South32 Ltd., which operates the region’s biggest aluminum smelter near the Maputo port, earlier this month said it reduced electricity to its production facilities “to preserve raw materials and maintain operational stability.”
Syrah, which has been sending battery ingredients to Tesla for testing ahead of commercial sales starting next year, declared force majeure at its Balama operation.
At least 121 people died in the unrest this week, bring the total dead since demonstrations began on Oct. 21. to 248, Decide Platform, a local monitoring group said late Wednesday.
“The skies are covered in black smoke from burning tires and public and private infrastructure,” Maputo-based Center for Democracy and Human Rights said in a statement Wednesday. “The floor is covered in blood. The state is absent.”
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