Mozambique (MNN) ― Police in Mozambique clashed with demonstrators yesterday who were in the streets protesting rising prices. The price of a loaf of bread rose 25 percent in the past year.
The amount of increase represents a high percentage of a daily income in Mozambique. Brent Bartlett, South Africa spokesman for Trans World Radio, explains that "the average person in Africa earns around or less than a dollar a day, and they have to make ends meet on that. As the prices steadily increase, people are beginning to find it more and more difficult to make ends meet. At some point, the pressure cooker has got to burst."
On Wednesday, rioters in some areas burned tires and blocked roads while reports of looting spread. Authorities tried to disperse the protestors by firing rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowds, resulting in several deaths.
It's a familiar scene. In 2008, Maputo erupted into violence as global food prices soared. Critics blame the government for food shortages, for being greedy, and for making decisions that have worsened the problem.
Some of those decisions have caused Mozambique's currency, the metical, to depreciate against the South African rand.
The rand, meanwhile, has seen its own troubles. As its power weakens, governments tighten their belts. South Africa has been brought to a standstill by a public sector strike. Bartlett says, "Services in some areas that were already below standard are now purely standing still. It's affecting schooling. A lot of the schools in south Africa are closed at the moment, and people are protesting on the streets--school teachers, even down to hospitals and doctors who are saying ‘We just can no longer make ends meet.'"
That makes two major incidents tied to the economy of a continent. "In the broad perspective of the global economic crisis that we've been experiencing, we're really beginning to feel the effects of this now, here in Africa, more than when it first unfolded," Bartlett adds, noting that the next 24 hours will be critical to the strike's resolution.
The South African Democratic Teachers' Union, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union, and several other unions appear to have rejected the government's latest offer of a 7.5 percent pay increase.
TWR is a tool of hope. Bartlett says, "In terms of what we're actually doing, (i.e. broadcasting the Gospel and that kind of thing), [this crisis] has had virtually no impact at all. What it has impacted is our thinking in terms of how we embrace our listeners, who are really the people who are affected by this."
Bartlett adds that their teams are responding, whether it is coming alongside a Non-Government Organization in a crisis, or broadcasting support and critical information. "TWR has always been committed to sharing the Gospel of hope. We encourage people to look to the Lord for answers, and we encourage the church leaders in this, as well."
