Employees from out of town could not reach their jobs this morning and their colleagues who live closer by could hardly leave their offices anymore. The Mozambican capital of Maputo was on fire today and that even seemed to surprise the townspeople themselves. A fifty percent price raise for the chapa's, the minibuses that pass for public transport, caused the uprising. Monday was a Mosambican holiday and the fare rise was supposed to take effect the next day. But from early in the morning groups of young people blocked the main streets with burning car tyres or rubble and managed to put life in the town to a halt. The riots seemed to be well coordinated and are unprecedented in the Southern-African country that has known peace since over a decade. Shops and banks had to close their doors en according to the website of the Mozambican weekly O País at least three persons were killed. This very night the government gave in and reversed the measure. So rides within the city for now still cost five meticais (fifteen eurocent). Which in a country where minimum wage is not even a euro and a half a day is quite an amount to the average labourer.
