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Cahora Bassa, 1969-1995
Dossier no. MZ-0116
Page Two: After Independence, 1975-1983
«Temos que domesticar o ‘elefante branco’ que é Cahora Bassa. Esse ‘elefante’ tem que dar à nossa agricultura e indústria o marfim que são a energia eléctrica e a irrigação, que produzirão ainda mais energia eléctrica e irrigação, por sua vez». Samora Machel, Closing speech to an Enlarged Session of the Council of Ministers, 4 August 1979.
After independence, Frelimo was faced with a dilemma. During the independence struggle, it had implacably opposed the Cahora Bassa scheme with both propaganda and sabotage, declaring that it was a crime, and that it should never be finished. Now, in government, Frelimo was saddled with the still incomplete hydroelectric project, which it regarded as a white elephant, and which only came on line in June 1979, four years later.
In 1976, Marcelino dos Santos explained in an interview on Swedish television that ‘a shotgun in the hands of a Frelimo soldier is a shotgun to liberate the people and the land’ – in other words, that although Cahora Bassa had been part of an imperialist scheme to dominate southern Africa, this was no longer the case.
With Cahora Bassa actually working, in mid-1979 President Samora Machel signaled the new policy line in an important speech that he delivered on the closing day of an ‘enlarged’ session of the Council of Ministers. A white elephant? Certainly, but one that could and should be tamed or domesticated to provide energy for industrialisation and irrigated agriculture. The speech was subsequently issued as a pamphlet with the title Façamos de 1980-1990 a Década da Vitória sobre o Subdesenvolvimento, in the series Colecção Palavras de Ordem.
Above: A NASA photograph of Lake Cahora Bassa on the Zambezi River, seen from space. [This file is in the public domain because it was created by NASA]. Left top: Samora Machel speaking at the closing of the Council of Ministers meeting, August 1979. Below: the cover of the pamphlet edition of his speech. Next: The cover of Keith Middlemas’ book. Bottom: An aerial view of the dam, with the artificial lake visible behind it.
But Cahora Bassa did not actually belong to the Mozambican state. It was operated by the company Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa which was jointly owned by Mozambique, with 18 percent equity, and Portugal, with 82 percent. So the constant question was, who makes the decisions? For an example, in January 1981, HCB awarded a salary increase of 20 percent to the Mozambican workforce. But the Mozambican authorities, who had not been consulted, regarded this as a violation of sovereignty, and annulled the increase. By the end of 1983 it had become necessary for the two sides to negotiate.
MHN Resources
Section 2: Political Tension and Cahora Bassa, 1975-1983
◊ 9 August 1975
Zambesi dam. Economist [London], 9 August 1975. Anonymous review of Keith Middlemas, Cabora Bassa: engineering and politics in southern Africa (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1975). Click here to view or download a PDF, size 76 kb.
◊ 26 September 1975
Cabora Bassa. Marchés Tropicaux et Méditerranéens [Paris], 26 September 1975. On the setting up of Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB). Click here to view or download a PDF, size 27 kb.
◊ October 1975
Hugh Peyman. Good story about a great dam. African Development [London], vol.9 no.10, October 1975, p.99. Review of Keith Middlemas, Cabora Bassa: engineering and politics in southern Africa (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1975). Click here to view or download a PDF, size 125 kb.
◊ 4 April 1976
Cahora Bassa: uma espingarda nas mãos de um soldado da Frelimo é uma espingarda para libertar o povo e a terra. Tempo [Maputo], no.287, 4 April 1976, p.60-61. Transcript in Portuguese of a Swedish television interview with Marcelino dos Santos. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 229 kb.
◊ June 1977
Mozambique power for S. Africa. New African [London], June 1977. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 242 kb.
◊ 31 July 1977
Tete: Cahora Bassa, um espinho doce. Parte III. Tempo [Maputo], no.356, 31 July 1977, p.28-34. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 2.9 Mb.
◊ 28 October 1977
Cabora Bassa: generating confidence. Financial Mail [Johannesburg], 28 October 1977. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 85 kb.
◊ 31 March 1978
Mozambique. Africa Research Bulletin. Economic, Financial and Technical Series [Exeter], vol.15 no.2, 31 March 1978. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 20 kb.
◊ 2 March 1979
Portugal: Cabora Bassa dream turns to nightmare. To the Point [Johannesburg], vol.8 no.9, 2 March 1979, p.13. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 185 kb.
◊ August 1979
Mozambique power plant. Africa [London], no.96, August 1979, p.104. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 23 kb.
◊ 11 May 1980
Luís David. Energia de Cahora Bassa desenvolve centro-norte do país. Tempo [Maputo], no.500, 11 May 1980, p.17-22. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 1.5 Mb.
◊ October 1980
Ruth Weiss. Cabora Bassa rethink. South [London], no.1, October 1980, p.58. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 355 kb.
◊ 23 November 1980
Luís David. Cahora Bassa: vários consórcios interessados na construção da central-norte. Tempo [Maputo], no.528, 23 November 1980, p.7-10. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 776 kb.
◊ 9 January 1981
Quentin Peel and Diana Smith. Sabotage cuts power lines to South Africa. Financial Times [London], 9 January 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 100 kb.
◊ 26 January 1981
Hidroeléctrica de Cahora-Bassa, SARL: o que é? Notícias [Maputo], 26 January 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 160 kb.
◊ 26 January 1981
Por atentar contra a nossa soberania, estado moçambicano anula decisão ilegal dos gestores portugueses da Cahora-Bassa: Armando Guebuza reúne com os trabalhadores da empresa no Songo. Notícias [Maputo], 26 January 1981. The Portuguese managers of HCB unilaterally decided a salary increase of 20 percent for the Mozambican workforce at Cahora Bassa. This was viewed by the Mozambican authorities as a violation of national sovereignty, was denounced as illegal, and was annulled. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 234 kb.
◊ 1 February 1981
Cahora-Bassa: estado moçambicano anula decisão ilegal de aumento salarial. Tempo [Maputo], no.538, 1 February 1981, p.5-6. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 219 kb.
◊ 13 February 1981
Cabora Bassa: cost of expansion. Financial Mail [Johannesburg], 13 February 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 264 kb.
◊ 9 May 1981
Disposições para exploração conjunta do complexo de Cahora Bassa, acordam Moçambique e Portugal. Notícias [Maputo], 9 May 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 97 kb.
◊ 10 May 1981
Cahora Bassa deverá inserir-se no desenvolvimento da RPM. Notícias [Maputo], 10 May 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 116 kb.
◊ 12 June 1981
Power cuts: Cahora dimension. Financial Mail [Johannesburg], 12 June 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 70 kb.
◊ 11 January 1982
Diana Smith. Portugal to help in Zambesi hydro plan. Financial Times [London], 11 January 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 500 kb.
◊ 21 January 1982
Acordo RPM-Portugal: rentabilizar Cahora-Bassa. Notícias [Maputo], 21 January 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 126 kb.
◊ 1 February 1982
Energia de Cahora Bassa para a Zambézia. Notícias [Maputo], 1 February 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 32 kb.
◊ 14 February 1982
Cahora Bassa cimento da cooperação: Secretário de Estado do Carvão e Hidrocarbonetos, em Portugal. Tempo [Maputo], no.592, 14 February 1982, p.12-14. Interview with Abdul Magid Osman, first published in Diário de Notícias, Lisbon. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 601 kb.
◊ 22 February 1982
Rede de transportes para Cahora-Bassa. Notícias [Maputo], 22 February 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 296 kb.
◊ 13 March 1982
Jill Jolliffe. Repatriation sought. Guardian [London], 13 March 1982. Part of a report on a letter published in the Lisbon weekly Expresso, from two Portuguese employees of SHER, saying that the MNR started attacks in October 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 37 kb.
◊ 9 April 1982
Vers une extension à divers pays africains des livraisons d'énergie électrique de Cabora Bassa. Marchés Tropicaux et Méditerranéens [Paris], 9 April 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 36 kb.
◊ 16 April 1982
Cesário Borga. Factura de Prétoria é paga em Lisboa: Cahora Bassa parada custa dez mil contos por dia. O Jornal [Lisbon], 16 April 1982, p.13. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 215 kb.
◊ 15 June 1982
RPM-Portugal: acordo no domínio dos recursos hídricos. Notícias [Maputo], 15 June 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 155 kb.
◊ 30 June 1982
Cahora-Bassa e Beira recebem visita: Balsemão impressionado com realidade nacional, dizem fontes portuguesas. Notícias [Maputo], 30 June 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 421 kb.
◊ September 1982
Building a post-colonial power system. African Business [London], September 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 90 kb.
◊ 7 September 1982
Energia eléctrica, Cahora-Bassa abastece Zimbabwe: Ministro da Indústria e Energia da RPM esteve em Harare. Notícias [Maputo], 7 September 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 90 kb.
◊ 21 October 1983
Como vivem os portugueses em Cahora-Bassa: Songo uma ilha cercado de terra. O Jornal [Lisbon], 21 October 1983. Digitization of a poor-quality photocopy. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 2 Mb.
◊ 16 November 1983
Moçambique e Portugal em conversações sobre Cahora-Bassa. Notícias [Maputo], 16 November 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 36 kb.
◊ 19 November 1983
Para o empreendimento de Cahora-Bassa, Moçambique e Portugal assinam protocolo. Notícias [Maputo], 19 November 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 187 kb.
