South Africa Shuts Border With Neighbor

At least two dozen people in Mozambique have been killed in clashes with police following an October vote, according to a human rights group

South Africa has closed one of its main border crossings with Mozambique in response to rising violence in the neighboring country following last month’s disputed presidential election.

The decision to shut the Lebombo port of entry is due to security reasons, the South African Border Management Authority (BMA) said on Tuesday. The border is about 110km (68 miles) from Mozambique’s capital of Maputo, and about 440km from South Africa’s capital, Pretoria.

The Mozambican Center for Democracy and Human Rights claims that measures taken by the police to quell the protests against alleged electoral fraud have led to the deaths of at least two dozen people since the October 9 presidential vote.

“The death toll is rising by the day, with authorities using weapons of war, including rifles and armoured vehicles, on the streets of the city,” Khanyo Farise, a regional official of Amnesty International, said on Wednesday.

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Protests intensified across the southern African state in late October, when Frelimo Party candidate Daniel Chapo was declared the winner of the election with more than 71% of the vote. Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, who came in second with 20%, has accused Frelimo, which has ruled the country since its independence from Portugal in 1975, of rigging the election. The politician has been leading demonstrations to denounce the results and the assassination of his lawyer, Elvino Dias, and Paulo Guambe, a spokesperson for their Podemos party.

Violence has spread to areas near the border at Lebombo, with vehicles and some buildings being set on fire on the Mozambican side, according to Michael Masiapato, the commissioner of South Africa’s BMA.

In a press release on Tuesday, Masiapato said seven Mozambican officials had “requested refuge on the South African side for safety and protection.”

“Due to these security incidents and in the interest of public safety, the port has been temporarily closed until further notice,” Masiapato added.

The border closure comes as the former Portuguese colony braces for more anti-government rallies in Maputo on Thursday. The country’s defense minister, Cristovao Chume, warned on Tuesday that the army would be deployed to prevent attempts to “remove the democratically elected government.”

On Wednesday, Amnesty International urged neighboring countries and international organizations, including the Southern African Development Community and the African Union, to “speak out forcefully now to prevent further unlawful killings and other human rights violations” in Mozambique.

(RT)