More than 2,200 contracts suspended due to floods in the Mozambican province of Gaza

Xai-Xai, Mozambique, May 1, 2026 (Lusa) — More than 2,200 contracts were suspended in 67 closed companies in Gaza province alone, southern region, due to the floods that affected more than one million people, with 311 deaths across the country. According to the executive secretary of the Organization of Workers of Mozambique — Central Syndicate (OTM-CS) in Gaza, Ana Tombana, the 2025-2026 rainy season caused a negative impact on the socio-economic life in that province, one of the most affected by the floods, having forced the temporary suspension of the activity of 67 companies and a total of 2,235 employment contracts. The impact of the rains left workers in a situation of “extreme need and despair,” said Ana Tombana during the International Workers’ Day celebrations in Gaza, pointing out, “in this tragic impact,” the agriculture sector as the one that recorded major losses.

The executive secretary of the OTM-CS also lamented the “persistent systematic violation” of labor legislation in the private sector, pointing out, among other violated rights, the lack of periodic medical assistance and the lack of periodic inspection of occupational diseases for workers who perform high-risk jobs. “In this context, the lack of medical assistance can undermine the worker’s health, causing in a certain way the resurgence of occupational diseases,” added Ana Tombana. Mozambique is considered one of the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, cyclically facing floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, which runs between October and April.

The death toll in the current rainy season in Mozambique rises to 311, with 1.07 million people affected since October, 24,229 houses partially destroyed, 11,996 totally destroyed, and 209,219 flooded, with a total of 304 health units affected in less than six months, according to the latest update from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD). Th The January floods alone caused at least 43 deaths, 147 injuries, and nine missing persons, affecting 715,803 people globally, with some areas of the south recording a new wave of flooding in recent days. INGD data also indicates that 320,426 hectares of agricultural areas were lost, affecting 373,241 farmers, and 531,657 animals died, including cattle, goats, and poultry.