Erika Gibson
American intelligence officers were in South Africa this past week to discuss the situation in Mozambique with their counterparts.
Increasing political tensions and a looming civil uprising have put Mozambique on a knife edge as the country awaits the findings of an investigation into the national elections in October – which the ruling party, Frelimo, won amid great controversy.
The US Air Force’s enormous C-17 Globemaster aircraft caused a stir in the Lowveld when it landed at the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport.
According to sources from City Press’ sister publication Rapport, this was also where meetings with the National Intelligence Coordination Committee (Nicoc) were held.
The US has had a training team in Mozambique in recent years, assisting with the training of a specialist response unit in the Mozambican army.
At the same time, a UK Royal Air Force Airbus A400M landed in Gaborone, Botswana, on Friday. The call sign of this aircraft indicates an emergency operational flight.
According to aviation sources, several meetings have been held at Lanseria airport in recent days to discuss the possible emergency evacuation of various embassies and foreigners in Mozambique.
The respective teams in South Africa have wanted to ensure that there is enough fuel at Lanseria for additional flights to house their citizens who may be evacuated from Mozambique temporarily before flying them out of the country.
Various UN agencies and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) are all involved in these plans, which include the supply of humanitarian relief.
Should they become necessary, the operations could be coordinated from South Africa and Botswana.
Nicoc consists of representatives from state security, defence and crime intelligence, as well as the financial intelligence centre. Additional departments may also be involved.
International Relations and Cooperations Minister Ronald Lamola will meet with his Mozambican counterpart on Wednesday to discuss the situation in the country, said his spokesperson Chrispin Phiri.
Government is particularly concerned about the consequences of a large-scale uprising and a potential humanitarian crisis and food shortages.
According to the publication’s sources, the meeting in the Kruger National Park was aimed at exchanging information, with the visitors transported under strict security and escorted to the Kruger Gate Hotel.
According to the US embassy in Pretoria, the gigantic aircraft is one that “supports the department of defence’s logistical support for operations”.
A drone was reportedly also brought to the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport with the C-17.
The team visited the Lebombo border post on Thursday, where protests and roadblocks in Mozambique have led to trucks backing up for 30km.
The border post is currently only open to pedestrians and regular vehicles, while several truck drivers are threatening to abandon their cargoes.
The road to Maputo is still intermittently blocked by protesters. However, the Border Management Agency said on Friday that thousands of vehicles had been processed through Lebombo to Mozambique.
More clashes between protesters and security forces at Ressano Garcia were reported yesterday afternoon.
Informed sources in the intelligence community said that the Americans and other embassy staff in Mozambique were already engaged in contingency planning in anticipation of the constitutional council’s ruling on the election. This ruling was expected shortly before Christmas.
Opposition parties and observers claimed that there had been large-scale tampering during the elections.
Although preliminary results found that Frelimo won the election with 70% of the vote, voters believed that was impossible.
Venâncio Mondlane of opposition party Podemos is widely regarded as the leader who could finally defeat Frelimo at the polls.
However, it is unlikely that the constitutional council will rule in Podemos’ favour, as that could be the spark which ignites the powder keg.
Residents have since been staging their own uprising, which has claimed the lives of at least 110 people.
According to the latest information from the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), several foreign mines and interests in Mozambique have already been directly affected by unruly communities.
In Cabo Delgado, Australian mining company Syrah declared force majeure at its graphite mine on Thursday.
Angry residents have blocked access to the mine, claiming that it took over their farms.
The US has extended loans of R4.4 billion to Syrah to supply more graphite for the US car battery market than it does for China. Syrah is one of the suppliers to Tesla.
According to the CIP, problems at the factory have prevented Syrah from meeting its quotas and repayments.
A UK tantalite mine in the Zambezia province also had to close its doors after local residents vandalised the mine and its equipment. Tantalite is a mineral used in electronics, weapons manufacturing and aerospace components.
InBev SA’s Mozambican subsidiary Anheuser-Busch – which is the country’s largest brewery – also halted production last week after rioters looted the factory.
Meanwhile, the interior is suffering from sporadic fuel shortages and Mozambican power stations have been repeatedly occupied in recent weeks.
News24
