Mozambique: Government admits fuel crisis – Watch

The Mozambican government on Tuesday admitted that it the country is facing a serious shortage of fuel – but did not offer any solutions. In central Maputo, many filling stations had no fuel at all, and long queues of vehicles built up at those which still had a few litres of petrol or diesel to sell. Tempers frayed, and there were cases, caught on camera, where fist fights between motorists almost broke out because of attempts to jump the queue.

Government spokesperson and Minister of Development Salim Vala told reporters after a meeting of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet) “We are in a crisis situation. It’s a global crisis and what we can say right now is that in recent days there has been a race to obtain fuel”. But the only message he could bring was “we shall wait.

The government is following these situations of pressure on the fuel supply”. Vala claimed that the situation was “under control”, but motorists who had spent hours queuing for a few litres of fuel might not have agreed. He admitted that it was impossible to say when the crisis would be solved because matters such as the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran, and the subsequent closure of the strait of Hormuz, were beyond Mozambique’s control.

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Vala noted that several other southern African countries have raised fuel prices. He admitted that Mozambique might be forced to follow suit, but that would all depend on developments in the war against Iran. Increasing the fuel price “is a possibility”, said Vala.

“It may happen, as it has happened in other countries. But we shall wait and we shall manage this difficult moment. We shall wait for the situation in the Middle East to be normalised”.

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