A group of Mozambican and South African traders illegally seized three truckloads of tomatoes belonging to rival operators and held them in Komatipoort for five days, according to a report in the independent daily, O Pais, according to news agency AIM.
The 900 crates of tomatoes on the trucks belonged to members of the Mozambican Association of Micro-Importers (AMIM), who believe that they have fallen victim to a powerful group that is trying to control the trade in tomatoes and fix the prices.
The group that seized the trucks is effectively trying to exclude smaller traders from Mozambique’s largest wholesale market, at Zimpeto, on the outskirts of Maputo, according to AMIM programme director, Henrique Arao, who warned that the end result is higher prices.
AMIM’s opponents want to ensure that traders go to South Africa to buy the tomatoes on fixed dates and with a fixed number of trucks. They openly admit that the purpose is to control the amount of tomatoes that enter the Zimpeto market.
According to O Pais, the number of trucks entering Zimpeto laden with tomatoes is 25 to 30 a day. But a few weeks ago, the figure was 60 to 80 a day. A crate of 30 kilos of tomatoes is now sold for 350 meticais (about US$13), almost double the previous wholesale price of 150-200 meticais a crate.
The group who call themselves “controllers” demanded a fine of R25 000 per truck from AMIM – for the crime of traveling to the South African farms without their consent. The AMIM members refused – and so the trucks were held in Komatipoort with the risk of deteriorating.
Eventually the Mozambican consulate in Nelspruit, contacted by the owner of the trucks, intervened. Thanks to this intervention and that of the Komatipoort police the trucks were finally released.
