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Crime, Crime Waves
and Vigilantism, 1980-1995
Dossier MZ-0065
Note: Three compressed ZIP files of press clippings and other materials on crime are now available for download. The first includes all the items listed below (a total of 76 documents) and may be downloaded here (9.4 Mb). The second includes 21 items which are NOT listed individually below, dated between 11 August 1982 and 5 August 1994 and may be downloaded by clicking here (2.7 Mb). The third zipped file includes five clippings from 2000 and 2001 (outside MHN's normal chronological coverage) which are also NOT listed below (click here: 672 kb.)
MHN, 12 February 2016.
Crime, corruption, the management of the economy and issues of national security were all inextricably entwined with each other in the public policies and the ideology of independent Mozambique until the early 1990s. For instance, profit-seeking activities that elsewhere might have been considered legitimate entrepreneurial initiatives were criminalized. Candonga, or black market trading, was characterised as counter-revolutionary, and was even for a brief time a capital offence [to jump to the Dossier on Candonga, click here].
The first section in this dossier includes an official government position paper entitled O que é o crime? [What is crime?] that was presented at the sixth UN Congress on Crime Prevention and the Treatment of Offenders in Caracas, Venezuela in 1980. This document was subsequently reprinted in Tempo magazine, and represents a fairly serious attempt to theorise the origins of criminal behaviour in systems of political and economic oppression. It’s subtitled ‘The Position of Our Country Confronted by this Question’. This is followed by a structured and didactic piece from July 1985 on the different forms of participation in criminal activity. The last text in this section is a newspaper report on Maputo crime statistics, which reveals a small increase in cases in Maputo province between 1990 and 1991; nearly two-thirds of all criminal cases were delicta communia or common crimes (that can be perpetrated by anybody).
The second part of the dossier consists of a selection of newspaper reports on various crimes ranging across a wide spectrum from armed robbery, domestic violence, fraud and embezzlement and stock theft.
Above: The corpse of a ‘Ninja’ lying in the street in Polana Caniço, after being lynched by an angry crowd, October 1991. Left: Thieves fighting over the spoils of a robbery in a Maputo street. Photos: Augusto de Carvalho.
The concluding section includes reports on vigilantism. In 1991, a serious crime wave broke out – especially in Maputo – fuelled to some extent by widespread unemployment, the easy availability of guns and ammunition, the expulsion of Mozambican students and migrant workers from the GDR and Cuba, and rural-urban migration under pressure from the war. This led to incidents of lynching and the ‘necklacing’ of suspected thieves and criminals by enraged mobs [see pictures and reports above and below].
Statistics, Theories of Criminality
◊ 11 August 1976
FRELIMO. Sede Nacional. Combate popular contra a criminalidade [11 August 1976]. In: Circulares da Sede Nacional da FRELIMO. (Maputo: Departamento de Informação e Propaganda da FRELIMO, s.d.), p.3-8. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 865 kb.
◊ 19 October 1980
O que é o crime? A posição do nosso país perante esta questão. Tempo [Maputo], no.523, 19 October 1980, p.11-14. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 1.7 Mb.
◊ 27 July 1985
Breve noção sobre formas de participação criminosa. Notícias [Maputo], 27 July 1985. The Mozambican penal code recognises three types of criminal agency, namely «autores», «cúmplices» and «encobridores»; very roughly the perpetrators, the accomplices and the accessories. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 377 kb.
◊ 10 March 1992
Índice de criminalidade aumenta na província de Maputo: durante o ano passado foram registados 2526 casos, dos quais 61% são de delito comum. Notícias [Maputo], 10 March 1992. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 127 kb.
Selected Crime Reports, 1981-1988
◊ 27 December 1981
Polícias expulsos. Domingo [Maputo], 27 December 1981. Five policemen are kicked off the force after being accused of corruption, robbery, permitting the abuse of a prisoner and other offences. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 101 kb.
◊ 2 January 1982
Três cantineiros presos por especulação e açambarcamento. Notícias [Maputo], 2 January 1982. «Operação Surpresa» was aimed at shopkeepers who were trying to profit from the sale of alcoholic drinks during the New Year festivities. Seven people were arrested altogether. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 86 kb.
◊ 26 January 1982
Myango Hama. PPM neutraliza assassinos e rede de 20 cúmplices: quadrilha já tinha morto dois mineiros. Notícias [Maputo], 26 January 1982. This gang attacked and robbed migrant workers returning from South Africa. One of the accused, José Amussa Jeque, a government driver, had befriended some Tanzanian students who were on an exchange programme at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, and had already visited some foreigners’ houses, possibly to reconnoitre them [additional information, not in the report]. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 1.9 Mb.
◊ 22 May 1982
Bairro Comunal do Jardim: população organiza-se contra criminalidade. Notícias [Maputo], 22 May 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 164 kb.
◊ 3 June 1982
Filipe Siuéia. Bairro do Fomento: população reactiva combate ao crime. Notícias [Maputo], 3 June 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 408 kb.
◊ 17 June 1982
Nas cooperativas, assaltos originam desconfiança. Notícias [Maputo], 17 June 1982. ‘Constant’ thievery and robberies in consumer cooperatives have created a crisis of confidence among members about the leadership of the cooperatives. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 130 kb.
◊ 17 June 1982
A. Faife. Autópsias detectam intoxicações estranhas: cinco casos mortais na mesma casa; sulfato de amónia vendido como sal em Xipamanine; detidos 12 suspeitos. Notícias [Maputo], 17 June 1982. Shortages sometimes led to the sale of counterfeit products, in this case with tragic results, with several people poisoned. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 234 kb.
◊ 29 June 1982
Opinião Pública: patrulhamento e defesa em todos os locais de trabalho. Notícias [Maputo], 29 June 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 216 kb.
◊ 1 August 1982
Nine Chinese are killed in Mozambique mission. International Herald Tribune [Paris], 1 August 1982. The Mozambican police take no action while nine people are shot inside the Chinese embassy. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 21 kb.
◊ 3 August 1982
Caso de Fábrica de Refeições: doze acusados em liberdade condicional, dois absolvidos. Notícias [Maputo], 3 August 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 87 kb.
◊ 3 August 1982
Centenas de artigos furtados na Tradimex: quadrilha organizada composta por trabalhadores. Notícias [Maputo], 3 August 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 113 kb.
◊ 9 August 1982
Bairro Matola-Unidade B: polícia detém 12 suspeitos. Notícias [Maputo], 9 August 1982. Raids in the bairro result in the arrest of twelve people suspected of vagrancy, or of being unemployed, or who were wanted by the police. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 86 kb.
◊ 12 August 1982
Por quadrilhas especializadas, comerciantes burlados em cinco milhões de meticais: queriam comprar randes sul-africanos. Notícias [Maputo], 12 August 1982. Foreign exchange gangs have defrauded entrepreneurs who tried to buy South African currency illegally on the black market; however, the PPM have arrested the fraudsters. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 213 kb.
◊ 28 August 1982
CFM-Centro, na Beira, ladrões de tecidos detidos pela polícia: autor principal subornou vários trabalhadores num total superior a 770 contos. Notícias [Maputo], 28 August 1982. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 151 kb.
◊ 4 December 1982
Desmantelada rede de contrabando: chefe vai a Tribunal Militar. Notícias [Maputo], 4 December 1982. This report announces the discovery of a major smuggling ring involved in prawns, radios and televisions, cars, and foreign exchange trafficking. Gulamo Naby, the head of the ring, was the owner of a furniture business, «Ravat e Naby», and had been arrested on 17 July. He was later sent for trial at the TMR, where he was sentenced to death by firing squad and publicly executed with five other offenders on 9 April 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 113 kb.
◊ 15 January 1983
The campaign against crime in Maputo. Radio broadcast on Rádio Moçambique, on 15 January 1983, reported in the Summary of World Broadcasts [London]. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 28 kb.
◊ 17 January 1983
Em oito meses, quatro mil na cadeia em operações selectivas. Notícias [Maputo], 17 January 1983. Throughout 1982, police raids in ‘dozens’ of Maputo bairros netted 4,000 individuals accused of vagrancy, prostitution, armed robbery, rape, burglary, homicide and other offences. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 135 kb.
◊ 17 January 1983
Julgamento do caso das LAM: três condenados e dois absolvidos. Notícias [Maputo], 17 January 1983. The five accused all worked for the national airline LAM and were accused of trafficking in narcotics, prawns, snake skins, ivory, and foreign exchange. Two were acquitted. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 135 kb.
◊ 17 February 1983
Desmanteladas duas quadrilhas. Notícias [Maputo], 17 February 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 94 kb.
◊ 4 May 1983
Caso das ‘malas frias’ continua quente na Beira: dois réus apelam ao Tribunal de Recurso. Notícias [Maputo], 4 May 1983. A case of smuggling (ivory, hardwoods, jewellery, prawns, narcotics, cigarettes) through Beira airport. The case was nicknamed the «Cold Bags Case». Unusually, the normally straight-faced sub-editors at Notícias attempt some levity in the headline. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 96 kb.
◊ 20 May 1983
Indocumentado atingido mortalmente. Notícias [Maputo], 20 May 1983. Stopped by the police and unable to produce identification, a man flees and is shot dead. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 55 kb.
◊ 13 June 1983
Delinquência infantil preocupante na capital: de Janeiro a Maio, 25 por cento dos detidos são menores. Notícias [Maputo], 13 June 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 339 kb.
◊ 15 June 1983
Na madrugada de ontem, quatro casas comerciais assaltadas na cidade. Notícias [Maputo], 15 June 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 488 kb.
◊ 7 July 1983
Descoberto esconderijo nas barreiras da Maxaquene. Notícias [Maputo], 7 July 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 492 kb.
◊ 25 November 1983
Assaltantes à mão armada detidos em Nampula. Notícias [Maputo], 25 November 1983, p.2. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 94 kb.
◊ 5 December 1983
Hilário Cossa. Desmantelada rede de ladrões de mineiros. Notícias [Maputo], 5 December 1983. Apart from money and possessions, the gang also stole passports and other documents which it subsequently used to produce forged documents. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 368 kb.
◊ 10 December 1983
Nas LAM, iniciado julgamento da quadrilha do aeroporto. Notícias [Maputo], 10 December 1983. In times when consumer goods were scarce, the cargo terminals at airports were obvious targets for all kinds of shady deals. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 146 kb.
◊ 12 December 1983
Rui Dimande. Auto-intitulando-se fiscais do MIE, burlões vigarizavam pequenos industriais: os charlatães conseguiram roubar mais de 200 contos em 10 empresas de Maputo. Notícias [Maputo], 12 December 1983. Two confidence tricksters impersonated officials of the Ministry of Industry and Energy. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 382 kb.
◊ 13 December 1983
Abdul Carimo. Quadrilha do aeroporto será hoje sentenciada: tribunal preocupado com alheamento do problema por parte das estruturas directivas das LAM. Notícias [Maputo], 13 December 1983. More on the so-called airport gang. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 137 kb.
◊ 14 December 1983
Abdul Carimo. Quadrilha do aeroporto: prisão e chicotadas para 14 dos 20 acusados. Notícias [Maputo], 14 December 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 269 kb.
◊ 28 December 1983
[João Miguel Magalhães libertado]. Diário de Lisboa [Lisbon], 28 December 1983. An untitled short report. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 61 kb.
◊ 28 December 1983
Português libertado em Maputo. Jornal Popular [city unknown; Portugal], 28 December 1983. A Portuguese citizen convicted of drug offences is released. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 55 kb.
◊ 28 December 1983
Português libertado em Moçambique. Comércio do Porto [Porto], 28 December 1983. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 82 kb.
◊ 19 January 1984
Quadrilha de assaltantes detida em Maputo. Notícias [Maputo], 19 January 1984. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 37 kb.
◊ 6 November 1984
Quadrilha de ladrões capturada em Sommerschield: um dos assaltantes abatido pela PPM. Notícias [Maputo], 6 November 1984. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 89 kb.
◊ 27 July 1985
Falsificação de despachos de viaturas MLL: iniciado julgamento dos casos da Operação Stop, no primeiro processo são co-reús, funcionário da Alfândega e um comerciante. Notícias [Maputo], 27 July 1985. Illegally imported cars and vehicles were being issued with false papers. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 138 kb.
◊ 31 October 1985
Pesadas penas para bando de malfeitores. Notícias [Maputo], 31 October 1985. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 449 kb.
◊ 21 August 1987
Em Lisboa, tribunal absolve três moçambicanos: apenas um foi condenado no «caso Fazal». Notícias [Maputo], 21 August 1987. Some Mozambicans were accused of attempting to smuggle heroin. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 48 kb.
◊ 23 July 1988
Funcionários das LAM condenados a prisão: desviaram mais de três mil contos, emitindo bilhetes falsos. Notícias [Maputo], 23 July 1988. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 205 kb.
The Time of Vigilantism, 1991-1995
◊ 11 January 1991
Kidnap reports fire up Maputo lynch mobs. Argus [Cape Town], 11 January 1991. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 299 kb.
◊ August 1991
Mozambicans take law into own hands. Source unknown [place of publication unknown], August 1991. A clipping possibly from the Star, late August 1991. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 54 kb.
Above: a semi-naked potential victim of a lynch mob has been saved by the police, around September 1991. Below: two suspects who have been arrested and tied up with their own shirts being escorted to the esquadra in the baixa da cidade, also September 1991. Photos: Augusto de Carvalho.
◊ September 1991
Criminal lynchings. MozambiqueFile [Maputo], September 1991, p.14. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 142 kb.
◊ September 1991
Editorial: reaching the riot threshold. MozambiqueFile [Maputo], September 1991, p.3. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 164 kb.
◊ 13 September 1991
Suspects held. Chronicle [Bulawayo], 13 September 1991. The police arrest hundreds in response to the wave of vigilante violence. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 74 kb.
◊ 25 September 1991
No prosseguimento de rusgas selectivas, mais de 400 pessoas detidas nas cidades de Maputo e Matola. Diário de Moçambique [Beira], 25 September 1991. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 44 kb.
◊ 27 September 1991
Necklace of death for Mozambique’s ninjas. Star [Johannesburg], 27 September 1991. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 76 kb.
◊ October 1991
Police move to halt Maputo crime wave. MozambiqueFile [Maputo], October 1991, p.10-11. The police take action in response to a wave of popular violence, especially the brutal necklacing of suspected thieves (known as «ninjas»). Necklacing was renamed «BP em cima». Click here to view or download a PDF, size 214 kb.
◊ 4 October 1991-10 October 1991
Augusto de Carvalho. Insegurança em Maputo: o massacre dos ninjas. O Jornal Ilustrado [Lisboa], 4 October 1991-10 October 1991, p.20-21. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 339 kb.
◊ 17 January 1992
Mais de 50 reclusos moçambicanos estão em prisões portuguesas. Notícias [Maputo], 17 January 1992. There are 504 Africans in Portuguese jails, of whom 51 are Mozambicans. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 39 kb.
◊ 30 January 1992
Network steals thousands of bags filled with maize. Argus [Cape Town], 30 January 1992. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 33 kb.
◊ 6 March 1992
Beira: multidão manifesta-se contra inoperância das forças da ordem, mais de mil pessoas, maioritariamente mulheres, exigem medidas imediatas. Notícias [Maputo], 6 March 1992. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 122 kb.
◊ 10 March 1992
Forças da lei e ordem prometem restabelecer segurança na Beira. Notícias [Maputo], 10 March 1992. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 143 kb.
◊ 10 March 1992
Nampula: Procurador da República ordena inspecção de controlo nas FDS. Notícias [Maputo], 10 March 1992. The so-called «Forças de Defesa e Segurança» (FDS – the police, intelligence services, and so on) in Nampula were accused of corruption and other illegal activities, and Eduardo Mulembwe ordered an audit. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 60 kb.
◊ 1 April 1992
Jennifer Griffin. SA cops are battling Maputo car racket. Star [Johannesburg], 1 April 1992. A detailed account of how stolen cars from South Africa, especially Transvaal, are sold in Maputo. The racket also involves insurance fraud in South Africa itself. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 86 kb.
◊ 6 May 1992
Airmen held in Maputo for plane engine theft. Citizen [Johannesburg], 6 May 1992. Air force officers are arrested after attempting to smuggle MiG engines out of the country by road. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 68 kb.
◊ 15 June 1993
Anthony Johnson. SA, Mozambique to curb crime. Cape Times [Cape Town], 15 June 1993. The two countries agree to clamp down on the smuggling of arms, drugs and vehicles. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 39 kb.
◊ 5 July 1993
Renamo deteve um deputado e 16 polícias por exercício ilegal de caça em Salamanga. Século de Joanesburgo [Johannesburg], 5 July 1993. A bizarre incident in which Renamo arrests some people – including police officers – for illegal hunting in an area under its control. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 102 kb.
◊ 6 September 1993
Prétoria e Maputo «trocam» carros roubados. Século de Joanesburgo [Johannesburg], 6 September 1993. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 34 kb.
◊ 13 December 1993
Tropas sem alimentos nem salários: armazéns da «Visão Mundial» assaltados na Mutarara por soldados. Século de Joanesburgo [Johannesburg], 13 December 1993. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 99 kb.
◊ January 1994
Mozambique fraud. African Business [London], January 1994. Tax fraud cost the Mozambican government US$4.6 million in the months to August 1993 alone. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 35 kb.
◊ 3 January 1994
Associação Portuguesa de Apoio à Vítima coopera com congénere moçambicana. Século de Joanesburgo [Johannesburg], 3 January 1994. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 64 kb.
◊ 10 February 1994
Mozambican drug runner fined R25,000. Cape Times [Cape Times], 10 February 1994. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 32 kb.
◊ 11 March 1994
Motorist shot dead. Argus [Cape Town], 11 March 1994, p.5. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 14 kb.
◊ 13 March 1994
Leslie Crawford. Crime profits soar as Mozambique recovers. Sunday Times [Johannesburg], 13 March 1994. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 89 kb.
◊ 9 April 1994-10 April 1994
Greg Knowler. Death trap in Maputo. Weekend Argus [Cape Town], 9 April 1994-10 April 1994. A South African is a victim of armed robbery in a Maputo street. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 126 kb.
◊ 15 July 1994
Johannes Ngcobo. SA leaders to meet Chissano on crime raids. Business Day [Johannesburg], 15 July 1994. Joe Modise and Mathews Phosa are to meet with Joaquim Chissano to discuss cross-border crime. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 38 kb.
◊ 18 July 1994
SA, Mozambique agree. Business Day [Johannesburg], 18 July 1994. A joint commission on cross-border crime is to be established. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 16 kb.
◊ 6 September 1994
Vehicles for Mozambique. Business Day [Johannesburg], 6 September 1994. South Africa donates vehicles for use in the anti-crime crackdown. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 25 kb.
◊ 11 June 1995
Rachel Waterhouse. Mozambique traders split over drug haul. Sunday Times [Johannesburg], 11 June 1995. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 68 kb.
◊ 25 July 1995
Durban man ambushed in Mozambique. Business Day [Johannesburg], 25 July 1995. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 78 kb.