By Tendai Msenge
Sixteen years of a costly and highly destructive war coupled with the worst drought in living memory, have not succeeded in breaking Maputo City. It remains very much alive.
A tour of the city reveals a people determined to put the past behind them and get on with the business of rebuilding their lives. This is evident when one visits the market places – real hives of activity.
Mercado de Povo (which means the market of the people), centrally situated in the city, has a variety of products that would leave many supermarkets in the region green with envy. On a good day it is possible to get almost anything.
“We sell everything here,” says Marcos Mapinhane as he jostles for customers, “and our prices are lower than in the shops, that’s why all these people come here.”
Imported wines and other beverages, mostly from South Africa, and locally produced ones can be seen piled up in crates ready for sale. On almost every comer, shabbily dressed children and women, can be seen seated with a cooler box loaded with a variety of drinks.
Most Maputo residents prefer to buy from these vendors rather than from the shops – a situation which astounded one Zimbabwean accustomed to seeing people being arrested for public drinking in his own country (it is illegal to consume alcohol outside designated areas in Zimbabwe.)
It is not uncommon to find luxury goods such as the latest models of television sets, radios and videos, also from South Africa and Swaziland.
Janetta mercado, on the outskirts of the city, is smaller, but just as well stocked as Mercado de Povo. Fresh vegetables, fruit, fish and many other food stuffs are seen lined up on the counters in abundance.
“It’s not so much a question of unavailability of food here. The problem is that it is expensive and most people are in no position to buy it,” comments one resident.
Partying is very much a way of life for many people. The phrase often used to describe this coastal city is “a city that does not sleep”. This is very much so judging by the number of night clubs open till the early hours of the morning.
Young people dressed in the latest fashions frequent these night clubs to listen to both local and western music.
“While we enjoy listening to western music, we respond to our local music better. As you can see, people like dancing to it,” says Arbelto Carneiro as he takes a swig from a can of imported beer.
Despite their many problems, one thing that the Mozambicans have managed to achieve is racial integration. Social gatherings are always colourful with people socialising freely with each other. Mixed marriages are quite common in many parts of the country.
This is in sharp contrast to countries such as Zimbabwe or South Africa, where there is a definite division between the whites, who have their own closed form of entertainment, the coloureds (people of mixed race) and the blacks.
According to social observers, the reason for this is historical. During colonial times, the Portuguese practised the policy of assimilation which was to make blacks honorary Portuguese after they had attained an “acceptable” level of education and social status.
But as another Mozambican put it: “the Portuguese in Mozambique stayed on after independence because they chose to, unlike in Zimbabwe where some of those who stayed had nowhere else to go.”
Not all aspects of life are positive in Maputo, though. Many people were forced to flee from the rural areas and the result is overcrowding in the city.
These people (dislocados as they are known in Portuguese) have made planning for the authorities extremely difficult. They set up shacks wherever they could find space, and some of them are beginning to look like permanent structures. One of the famous ones is Airport town which surrounds the airport.
Overcrowding is made worse by people from surrounding rural areas who have to commute to Maputo every evening for fear of being attacked by the Mozambique National Resistance (MNR). Every day, old battered cars, overloaded with commuters can be seen headed for Maputo and then back to the rural areas in the morning.
“Hopefully with the signing of the ceasefire agreement and the return of peace in the rural areas, many of these people will return to their homes, and overcrowding won’t be too much of a problem,” says Pastor Francesco from Ricatla Seminary just outside Maputo.
Whatever the future holds for Mozambique, one leaves the place with a sense of hope that in their enterprising way, they will overcome anything. (SARDC)
