Ditaba Tsotetsi
Lamola led the SA delegation where they met with their counterparts from Mozambique in Malelane.
The neighbouring country is facing political stalemate following the disputed October 9 elections.
This was a strategic meeting between strong allies SA and Mozambique. The major focus is on the Constitutional Council's pronouncement on the electoral results.
Lamola says that they will continue to engage with the Mozambican government.
“The meeting exchanged views and agreed on measures to jointly mitigate the disruption at our ports of entry, particularly Lubombo and Risano Garcia. In this regard, the Ministers agreed, amongst others, to enhance channels for frequent and continuous engagement at the diplomatic level, bilateral level to mitigate disruptions, to trade and supply chains,” Lamola said.
The Minister of Transport and Communications in Mozambique Mateus Magala says his government suffered losses of close to a billion Rand ($54. 8million) from the protests following the recent elections.
“The impact has been negative. By now we are counting about $54 million of losses. Of course, it does not include also the freights, ports and the other players in supply chain, but that is not good news. The good news on the other hand is that the fright that was moving initially, the one 1100 trucks are there,” said Magala.
The SA Minister of Transport by Barbara Creecy has expressed concern about disruptions from the Lebombo port of entry between SA and Mozambique.
“The Lebombo is a very important transport corridor for us and in fact has become the most important land port in the country overtaking Beitbridge and also Groblersbrug. We are extremely pleased with our interactions and the assurances that we have received from Mozambican government that they will do what they can to stabilise this important trade corridor and make sure that our mining companies, our general freight companies have access to the port of Maputo,” Creecy said.
Lebombo port of entry forms a part of the Maputo Corridor, linking the capital city with SA's economic hub. It is also a key trade route, and stability is key for two neighbours.
--ChannelAfrica--
