«Candonga», 1976-1991:
Black-marketeering or Speculative Trading

Dossier MZ-0098

After independence, the Mozambican government imposed a system of strict price controls, which kept prices and exchange rates artificially low. Partly as a result, many goods were in short supply for long periods. The phenomenon of candonga, or the black-market, was one consequence. The foreign exchange shops, accepting only dollars or rands, known as Interfranca and run by the Portuguese company FNAC, were another.

This dossier tracks the history of candonga and the informal market in general from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, through to the period of the dumba nengues and the barracas, irrepressible in the end as they constituted the main expansive sector of the economy. The word candonga supposedly derives from the Kimbundu language of Angola, and was used to mean speculative profiteering; a candongeiro was a profiteer or speculator. It was a term that gradually came to be employed in great seriousness. By 1983 to be called a candongeiro was to be called an enemy of the revolution, the economic equivalent of an armed bandit.

Shown below is the front-page newspaper report, in Portuguese, of Samora Machel’s speech at Chibuto in mid-February 1983, in which he explicitly called for black-marketeers to receive the same harsh punishments as MNR rebels. Soon afterwards, the penalties for candonga were increased, and a new law 5/83 was passed to permit flogging. Both Machel and the then justice minister, Teodato Hunguana, made speeches to parliament defending the tough new policy. In April 1983 several offenders – one of whom was a smuggler – were publicly executed by firing squad in front of a large crowd. For more detail, see the dossier on Punishment.

Decoration

 

'Com a mesma violência revolucionária, punir bandidos, punir candongeiros.' [Punish bandits and profiteers with the same revolutionary violence.] — Notícias, Maputo, 17 February 1983.

 

Noticias on Candonga

Click on the image to view or download a readable 1.5 Mb JPEG version of the text. Note the now quite explicit moral and political equivalence between profiteering and armed rebellion.

 

By the late 1980s, the emergence of informal markets (barracas or dumba nengues) had developed to the point that the state could no longer suppress them, despite sporadic attempts to close them down or control them. The experiment in price control had failed.

 

Decoration

 

◊ 14 August 1976
FRELIMO. Sede Nacional. Vigilâancia contra especulação e açambarcamento [14 August 1976]. In: Circulares da Sede Nacional da FRELIMO. (Maputo: Departamento de Informação e Propaganda da FRELIMO, s.d.), p.11-12. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 534 kb.

◊ 5 September 1976
Populações organizadas combatem os especuladores: detectados fabricantes e vendedores clandestinos de bebidas . Tempo [Maputo], no.309, 5 September 1976, p.26-32. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 1.6 Mb.

◊ 14 October 1979
Bartolomeu Tomé. Candonga de galinhas mágicas. Tempo [Maputo], no.470, 14 October 1979, p.13-15. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 510 kb.

◊ 9 February 1981
Bernardo Mavanga. Candongueiros no banco dos réus. Notícias [Maputo], 9 February 1981. In Maputo province, 57 people were sentenced to prison terms for black market activity. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 125 kb.

◊ 6 March 1981
Rationing in Maputo. Citizen [Johannesburg], 6 March 1981. The introduction of the Sistema de Abastecimento for basic food items. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 51 kb.

◊ 30 June 1981
Joseph Hanlon. Maputo tries to foil ration cheats. Guardian [London], 30 June 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 64 kb.

◊ 13 August 1981
Albano Naroromele. Guerra à candonga e suas origens: Cabo Delgado dá passos significativos. Notícias [Maputo], 13 August 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 295 kb.

◊ 1 October 1981
Bernardo Mavanga. Desmantelado na capital supermercado da candonga: horário do estabelecimento era à noite. Notícias [Maputo], 1 October 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 806 kb.

The Anti-Candonga Campaign of December 1981

◊ 7 December 1981
Lançada campanha contra a candonga: detidos mais de 200 traficantes. Notícias [Maputo], 7 December 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 84 kb.

◊ 7 December 1981
Bernardo Mavanga. Varridos candongueiros da zona do Ho Ling. Notícias [Maputo], 7 December 1981. The area known as Ho Ling was at the corner of rua Filipe Samuel Magaia and rua Zedequias Manganhela in the baixa of Maputo. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 146 kb.

◊ 8 December 1981
Detidos quatro grossistas da candonga. Notícias [Maputo], 8 December 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 158 kb.

◊ 11 December 1981
Batedor de vagões, capturado em Maputo, candongueiro-tubarão: toneladas de géneros diversos em casa, e estava vinculado no Sistema de Abastecimento. Notícias [Maputo], 11 December 1981, p.2. The black-marketeer, named Américo Manuel Simbine, claimed the goods were for personal consumption. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 446 kb.

◊ 11 December 1981
Candongueiros julgados em público. Notícias [Maputo], 11 December 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 166 kb.

◊ 12 December 1981
Candonga: já foi julgada maioria dos acusados, sessão ao ar livre hoje no Chamanculo. Notícias [Maputo], 12 December 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 71 kb.

◊ 13 December 1981
Acabou o MK-3: candongueiros a contas com a justiça. Tempo [Maputo], no.583, 13 December 1981, p.4-5. The area known as Ho Ling was at the corner of rua Filipe Samuel Magaia and rua Zedequias Manganhela in the baixa of Maputo. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 439 kb.

◊ 15 December 1981
Detidos dois candongueiros com 125 sacos de milho e arroz: um estava hospedado no Hotel Turismo, produtos serão vendidos à população. Notícias [Maputo], 15 December 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 213 kb.

◊ 16 December 1981
Detido em Mavalane, vendedor de bazar com banca de candonga em casa. Notícias [Maputo], 16 December 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 218 kb.

◊ 19 December 1981
Candonga: reeducação para 81 candongueiros. Notícias [Maputo], 19 December 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 99 kb.

◊ 19 December 1981
Em Mahlazine, detida candongueira com nove sacos de arroz: 1100 Mt. era o preço da lata de 20 litros. Notícias [Maputo], 19 December 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 209 kb.

◊ 19 December 1981
Operação Neptuno: desmanteladas bases de candonga de pescado. Notícias [Maputo], 19 December 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 195 kb.

◊ 21 December 1981
Candongueiros de peixe hoje em tribunal. Notícias [Maputo], 21 December 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 195 kb.

◊ 21 December 1981
Joseph Hanlon. Trial of black-marketeers. Times [London], 21 December 1981. Reports on the wave of open-air public trials for black-marketeers (candongueiros), as part of a government crackdown. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 1.3 Mb.

◊ 22 December 1981
Bairro do Aeroporto: detida candongueira com 14 sacos de amendoim, negociata renderia 95 contos. Notícias [Maputo], 22 December 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 249 kb.

◊ 31 January 1982
Alta candonga um dos alvos. Tempo [Maputo], no.590, 31 January 1982, p.16-17. A short interview with a Provincial Director of PIC (Polícia de Investigação Criminal), who is not identified by name, about ‘alta candonga’ or large-scale black-market dealings. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 199 kb.

◊ 31 January 1982
A lei tem em conta a inserção sócio-económica do reú. Tempo [Maputo], no.590, 31 January 1982, p.17. An interview with an unnamed official of the Maputo provincial People’s Court. It is reported that 299 people had been tried for candonga offences (presumably in the December campaign). Click here to view or download a PDF, size 94 kb.

◊ 24 February 1982
Tete combate candonga: tribunal condena sete elementos. Notícias [Maputo], 24 February 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 84 kb.

◊ 27 February 1983
Samora Machel. O povo é construtor da paz. Tempo [Maputo], no.646, 27 February 1983, p.14-23. The text of the Chibuto speech of 15 February. Not available.

◊ 7 May 1982
Namaacha: neutralizado um quartel-general da candonga. Notícias [Maputo], 7 May 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 142 kb.

◊ 3 June 1982
Combater oportunismo na comercialização agrícola: Comandante Eduardo Nahia [sic] falando a camponeses. Notícias [Maputo], 3 June 1982. Maj.-Gen. Eduardo da Silva Nihia, on the need to fight against candonga and opportunism. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 112 kb.

◊ 3 June 1982
Comerciantes detidos em Nampula: vendiam café por quatro contos a lata. Notícias [Maputo], 3 June 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 110 kb.

◊ 12 August 1982
A. Faife. Doce leite no amargor da candonga: sucedâneo de amendoim para a refeição engorda negócio escuro. Notícias [Maputo], 12 August 1982. The rather literary headline translates roughly as ‘Sweet milk in the bitterness of the black market: peanut substitute fattens a shady deal’. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 291 kb.

◊ 14 August 1982
A. Faife. Prédio que come o pescado da cidade: peixes gordos não vão ao mar. Notícias [Maputo], 14 August 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 434 kb.

◊ 28 August 1982
Abel Faife. Tempo das vacas gordas. Notícias [Maputo], 28 August 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 101 kb.

◊ 6 September 1982
Seis candongueiros detidos no Chibuto. Notícias [Maputo], 6 September 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 174 kb.

◊ 20 October 1982
Três anos de prisão para casal candongueiro. Notícias [Maputo], 20 October 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 145 kb.

◊ 5 November 1982
Ricardo Timane. A candonga que Angónia combate. Notícias [Maputo], 5 November 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 231 kb.

◊ 6 November 1982
Tubarão da candonga capturado em Marracuene. Notícias [Maputo], 6 November 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 113 kb.

◊ 20 November 1982
Comércio Interno: empresas estatais também fonte da candonga, denuncia Polícia Popular de Moçambique. Sete mil contos roubados em três meses na Empresa de Abastecimento de Maputo. Notícias [Maputo], 20 November 1982. Poor quality image of the original. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 63 kb.

◊ 28 November 1982
Hilário Matusse. Maputo, combate à candonga: Major-General Jorge Rebelo orienta reunião com estruturas de base. Tempo [Maputo], no.633, 28 November 1982, p.12-13. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 397 kb.

◊ 6 December 1982
Joseph Hanlon. Mozambique takes aim on black market. Africa News [Durham NC], 6 December 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 73 kb.

The Equivalence of Candonga and Armed Banditry

◊ 25 January 1983
Porque são o prolongamento dos bandos armados nas cidades: punição exemplar para candongueiros, apelo lançado na reunião de balanço do Comité da Cidade do Maputo. Notícias [Maputo], 25 January 1983. Frelimo begins to push the idea that black-marketeers and armed bandits are two faces of the same counter-revolutionary phenomenon. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 268 kb.

◊ 17 February 1983
Com a mesma violência revolucionária, punir bandidos, punir candongeiros. Notícias [Maputo], 17 February 1983. A report of the important improvised speech by Samora Machel at a public meeting in Chibuto, mentioned above. Click here to download a JPEG image of this article. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 580 kb.

◊ 20 February 1983
Candongueiro igual a bandido armado. Domingo [Maputo], 20 February 1983. Again the idea that black-marketeering and armed banditry are equivalent. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 140 kb.

◊ 20 February 1983
Esmagar da mesma maneira candongueiros e bandidos. Yet again the idea that black-marketeering and armed banditry are equivalent. Domingo [Maputo], 20 February 1983. A pictorial feature. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 323 kb.

◊ March 1983
António Makwala. The black market bane: a case study. Africa Now [London], March 1983, p.43, 45-46. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 620 kb.

◊ 5 April 1983
Com os candongueiros, o pouco que temos torna-se ainda menos: deputados Feliciano Gundana e Aranda da Silva na 11a. sessão da Assembleia Popular. Notícias [Maputo], 5 April 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 217 kb.

◊ 21 April 1983
Coisas da Macaneta e Marracuene. Notícias [Maputo], 21 April 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 886 kb.

◊ 22 April 1983
Opinião pública: ilegalidade e candonga na Macaneta e Marracuene. Conselho Executivo responde. Notícias [Maputo], 22 April 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 161 kb.

◊ June 1983
Mozambique: black market brings floggings, executions. Africa Now [London], June 1983, p.33-34. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 264 kb.

◊ 11 June 1983
Candongueiros nas malhas da lei. Notícias [Maputo], 11 June 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 208 kb.

◊ 9 July 1983
Dez contos de candonga por mês: assim vive Esmael Vilanculos. Notícias [Maputo], 9 July 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 231 kb.

◊ 9 July 1983
Na Entreposto Comercial, candongueiros de peças condenados à prisão: os ladrões eram mecánicos e possuíam oficinas em casa. Notícias [Maputo], 9 July 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 163 kb.

◊ 18 July 1983
Em Tete, chicotadas e prisão para quatro vendedores. Notícias [Maputo], 18 July 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 118 kb.

◊ 8 August 1983
Fracassado aliciamento sexual: candongueira tentou comprar agente da PPM com sete mil meticais. Notícias [Maputo], 8 August 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 214 kb.

◊ 12 November 1983
Boavida Funjua. Para a candonga, desviaram milho e feijão que eram para hospital. Notícias [Maputo], 12 November 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 286 kb.

◊ 23 November 1983
Carvão e lenha vão para a candonga, revelam administradores de distritos. Notícias [Maputo], 23 November 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 404 kb.

◊ 2 December 1983
Carvão e lenha só para conhecidos. Notícias [Maputo], 2 December 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 89 kb.

◊ 6 December 1983
Em Maputo, detectada candonga de cebola e alho. Notícias [Maputo], 6 December 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 57 kb.

◊ 19 December 1983
Na terminal da empresa Oliveiras, desmantelada quadrilha de cnadongueiros de bilhetes. Notícias [Maputo], 19 December 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 88 kb.

◊ 20 December 1983
Alfredo Macaringue. Candonga de bilhetes na ROMOS e Oliveiras: candongueiros e trabalhadores desonestos tiram proveito da situação. Notícias [Maputo], 20 December 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 287 kb.

◊ 1984
Augusto de Jesus. Quem é Abdul Zubaida? Um capitalista moçambicano que não quer ser candongueiro. Domingo [Maputo], 1984. The date and source of this report are not known: probably Domingo, and some time after 1984. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 489 kb.

Informal Trading in Everything from Bus Tickets to Water

◊ 13 January 1984
Na terminal da empresa Oliveiras: exagero de requisições prejudica passageiros. Notícias [Maputo], 13 January 1984. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 230 kb.

◊ 15 June 1984
Em Angoche, candongueiros apresentados em público. Notícias [Maputo], 15 June 1984. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 47 kb.

◊ 13 September 1984
O pão da nossa boca na boca da candonga: irregularidades na Cooperativa «25 de Setembro». Notícias [Maputo], 13 September 1984. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 387 kb.

◊ 10 October 1984
Guias de comida são novidade. Notícias [Maputo], 10 October 1984. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 169 kb.

◊ 20 November 1984
Mercado Central de Maputo: operação anti-candonga surpreende 28 vendedores. Notícias [Maputo], 20 November 1984. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 58 kb.

◊ 19 December 1984
Mas que grande omoleta! Não partiam o ovo, e vendiam-no a 50,00 Mt.: um director nas malhas da candonga? Notícias [Maputo], 19 December 1984. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 284 kb.

◊ 30 December 1984
Intermetical tem de acabar: lançado ultimato aos candongueiros. Notícias [Maputo], 30 December 1984. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 130 kb.

◊ 25 January 1985
Arroz por pouco estava na candonga. Notícias [Maputo], 25 January 1985. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 229 kb.

◊ 3 April 1985
Candongueiros e BA’s, faces da mesma moeda: Marcelino dos Santos aos trabalhadores da Investro. Notícias [Maputo], 3 April 1985. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 395 kb.

◊ 12 June 1985
Com maior incentivo, colocar produtores a desafiar candongueiros, opinam grandes agro-pecuários na Beira. Notícias [Maputo], 12 June 1985. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 128 kb.

◊ 10 December 1985
Castigo para candongueiros. Notícias [Maputo], 10 December 1985. Village justice: five people are sentenced to 15 chicotadas each for selling bread at illegal prices. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 27 kb.

◊ 15 January 1986
Bento Niquice. Pôr termo ao cancro da candonga. Notícias [Maputo], 15 January 1986. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 418 kb.

◊ 27 May 1986
Candonga: Machungo critica conivência de responsáveis. Notícias [Maputo], 27 May 1986. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 64 kb.

◊ 8 June 1986
Os frutos da vigilância: descobertos candongueiros do bairro, desactivadas armas de guerra. Tempo [Maputo], no.817, 8 June 1986, p.14-16. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 655 kb.

◊ 30 November 1986
Pemba: falta de água origina candonga. Tempo [Maputo], no.842, 30 November 1986, p.4-5. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 1.8 Mb.

◊ 1 February 1987
No âmbito do Programa de Reabilitação Económica, medidas para prevenir especulação e candonga: aviso da Comissão Nacional de Preços e Salários. Notícias [Maputo], 1 February 1987. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 1.2 Mb.

◊ 26 October 1987
Operação Relâmpago: candongueiros sacudidos Sábado em Chungamoio e Interfranca II. Diário de Moçambique [Beira], 26 October 1987. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 1.2 Mb.

◊ 29 October 1987
Seis anos de prisão por diversos crimes: reú transferia ilegalmente divisas, tribunal ordena confisco de vinte viaturas. Notícias [Maputo], 29 October 1987. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 132 kb.

◊ 30 November 1987
Êxodo das populações fomenta candonga. Notícias [Maputo], 30 November 1987. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 107 kb.

◊ 7 May 1988
Mozambique: black market in Zambezia. Indian Ocean Newsletter [Paris], no.331, 7 May 1988, p.8. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 139 kb.

◊ 6 November 1988
Albano Naroromele. A sobrevivência em tempo de maior oferta e subemprego. Domingo [Maputo], 6 November 1988, p.6, 11. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 326 kb.

Barracas and Dumba Nengues

◊ 17 January 1989
De dumba nengue a male, ou a legalização do ilegal . Notícias [Maputo], 17 January 1989. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 252 kb.

◊ April 1989
António Gumende. Making ends meet in Maputo. Southern African Economist [Harare], April 1989. Illegal trading as a sign of hope. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 727 kb.

◊ 30 April 1989
Conselho Executivo matou as barracas. Tempo [Maputo], no.968, 30 April 1989, p.5-6. A poor quality original, which MHN has attempted to make more legible. The story deals with the decision by the Maputo city government to close down the barracas. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 203 kb.

◊ 21 May 1989
António Elias. O caso das barracas: quando toda a gente manda. Tempo [Maputo], no.971, 21 May 1989, p.13-17. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 1.4 Mb.

◊ July 1989
Dumba nengues closed down. MozambiqueFile [Maputo], July 1989. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 47 kb.

◊ 31 March 1991
Hope flickers in Maputo. City Press [Johannesburg], 31 March 1991. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 87 kb.

◊ October 1991
Illegal trade flourishes in Maputo. MozambiqueFile [Maputo], October 1991, p.13, 15. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 180 kb.

Decoration