The ministers of South Africa and Mozambique have underlined their commitment to end the post election tensions ongoing in Mozambique for peace to prevail. The stated this at a news conference in Malelane near the border when a mozambican delegation arrived in South Africa.
As part of efforts to eradicate internal tensions in Mozambique, South African ministers held talks on Wednesday with a delegation of their visiting Mozambican counterparts on the post-election protests in Mozambique and its repercussions on the economies of both nations.
Speaking at a news conference on Malelane, about 50 kilometers away from the border, South African Foreign Minister, Ronald Lamola affirmed that having looked into the political situation in Mozambique they agreed that South Africa will await the outcome of the Constitutional Council.
Lamola said the outcomes of the Constitutional Council are important to South Africa on a bilateral level and for multi-lateral forums South Africa sits on, like the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union.
For his part, Mozambique’s Interior Minister Pascoal Ronda, who led the delegation to South Africa underlined that President Filipe Nyusi has been working to resolve the election dispute as he encouraged dialogue among the candidates disputing the election.
The ministers exchanged views and agreed on measures to mitigate the disruption at their ports of entry, particularly at the Lebombo and Ressano Garcia crossings, adding that they will protect and secure the infrastructure for trade facilitation and continued collaboration to ensure minimum disruption for regional integration, including associated cross-border value chains. Mozambique has seen a wave of protests after its Election Commission declared the ruling (Mozambique Liberation Front) Frelimo party candidate Daniel Chapo, the winner of the Oct. 9 election. Chapo received 71% of the vote, defeating Venancio Mondlane of the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos), who garnered 20%, according to the Electoral commission.
Mondlane rejected the results, alleging widespread vote-rigging and urged supporters to protest, a protest that has erupted on October 21 and has killed over 110 people, as per Plataforma Eleitoral Decide, an election monitoring group. In response, last month, South Africa temporarily closed one of its busy border crossings with Mozambique due to the post-election violence in the neighboring country.
Mozambique’s Constitutional Council, charged with resolving electoral disputes, will make its ruling Dec. 23.
