By Simon Nare
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola has expressed concern about a possible spillover of the ongoing protests in Mozambique, which have turned violent.
Tensions are high in Mozambique following Frelimo’s recent victory at polls. It sparked protests from opposition groups contesting the legitimacy of the results and voting process.
Addressing journalists on a wide range of issues in Pretoria, Lamola said although the government continued to assess and monitor the situation, it remained concern about the spillover if the situation escalated.
“Yes, we are worried about spillovers. It is given that when there is a conflict in any of the neighboring countries there will be spillovers to South Africa. Hence, we continue to maintain line of engagement with our Mozambican counterparts and with the processes that Southern African Development Community is undertaking.
“SADC being the most important in terms of platform to feed into the process. That’s where we will continue to participate while we maintain the engagement that we have with our counterparts in Mozambique,” said Lamola.
He defended President Cyril Ramaphosa for congratulating the president-elect in that country before the Mozambican Constitutional Court pronounced on the matter, saying Ramaphosa based his congratulations on the preliminary results as announced in that country.
The minister said the SADC Electoral Observer Mission led by former Zanzibar president Dr Amani Abeid Kumane had in a preliminary report stated that the elections were conducted in an orderly, peaceful and free atmosphere.
“The preliminary statement identified areas for improvement following the Moçambican elections. The chairperson of the SADC Organ Troika has called for calm and the respect of available procedures for resolving election disputes.
“When President Ramaphosa welcomed the announcement of the preliminary election results, he also reiterated the call for calm, restraint and the rule of law in Mozambique. South Africa, therefore, believes that the SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections remain the viable set of norms to support the delivery of regular, free, fair and credible elections in the SADC member states,” he said.
He said earlier this month that when he engaged his Mozambican counterpart, Minister Verónica Macamo, they discussed the current security situation.
He said he had expressed concern about the violence, loss of lives and destruction of property.
“We once again reiterate the call made by various leaders in Mozambique to the law enforcement agencies to investigate these incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice speedily.
“We reiterate our calls for calm and restraint, to allow the electoral process to conclude successfully, and to give the Constitutional Court of Mozambique time and space to address the concerns raised by all parties and validate the election results in accordance with its mandate,” he said.
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