If you can send this as a standard letter to all your clients. Please see info below The skirmishes between Frelimo and Renamo have been going on for years in the northern parts of Mozambique (many hours north of Barra) near the Gorongosa National Park in the province of Sofala. These are ‘’old’’ Renamo soldiers who have a small base in the area trying to make a name for themselves leading up to elections (they have rapidly been losing popularity and seats over the past few years) . This is purely politically motivated, they are not targeting tourists nor do they have the manpower or financial resources to stage a war. Tourism is the one of the main sources of income for Mozambique and in 2005 the tourist industry in Mozambique grew by 37%, the fastest tourist industry growth rate in the world – the Mozambique Government will not let a few old soldiers threaten this source of income! As per most African countries, there is always a skirmish between rival political parties prior to an election – our own SA papers reported on ANC supporters intimidating DA supporters in Soweto last week – not to mention the ongoing and violent xenophobia in SA! Mozambique is currently a much safer country than South Africa where hijackings, violence, rape and murders are a daily occurrence and seldom reported on! As a member of the Inhambane Tourism Association, we have received no cautions/warnings regarding the situation. If at any time they felt it necessary to do so, we would be advised and in turn would notify all our clients. IF, the entire country was destabilised to the point where Mozambique Tourism felt it was unsafe for tourists to travel, they would advise holiday establishments and they in turn would advise their guests. Below are mails received from lodge owners in Mozambique “’We have been in touch with Ministers of Tourism, Police and The Governor of Vilanculos and he has assured us that the problem is far north from that. We feel based on this and the assurance from the Mozambique Government that Tourists travelling to Mozambique Lower than the Sofala Province are 100% safe If you speak to anybody in Mozambique from the Minister of Tourism to Rogerio who we all know everybody says it is safe to travel. France came home on Thursday, Neil on Friday, Shayle on Sunday there was no army or police presence on the road besides the norm’’. Carol Creighton Paradise Beach Lodge, Pomene “’Please advise that there is NOTHING to fear. This unrest happened in the far north of Areia Branca Lodge, Mozambiqueque. We did not even know about anything. Everything is going on like normal. We sleep with open doors and windows, walk for kilometres on the beach without any incident”’! Heida Steyn Paradise Magoo, Xai Xai ‘’We not into official statements or claiming to have all the answers but we would like a bit of common sense to prevail over the very isolated tit for tat contact in Sofala Province. Obviously we all want to be safe. But please. Folks, lets understand a few things. Purely in terms of proven daily exposure to violent crime, your chances of getting exposed to any trouble in central Mozambique if you are going on holiday in Southern Mozambique are virtually nil. Your trip there through South Africa will offer you more risk than on the roads in Mozambique. More people have been raped and murdered in Mpumalanga this year than in Mozambique the last 20 years!- it’s like saying there is trouble in Cape Town so I cant take my family on holiday to the Drakensburg’’. MOZambique Magazine “’Ek het vanoggend op die nuus gehoor dat daar gerugte van moeilikheid in mosamiek is. Ons het met Nigel in Maputo gesels vanoggend. Hy in beheer van die sekuriteit in Maputo en is baie op hoogte van die politieke toestande daar. Volgens hom is die ontevredenheid tussen Renamo en Frelimo bo die Inhasorro provinsie . Die provinsie is baie hoog op in mosambiek en volgens hom is dit nie van vandag af nie en is dit al vir ,n geruime tyd die geval. Hy het my verseker dat alles baie veilig is van MAPUTO tot VILANCOULUS. Daar is geen rede tot kommer nie en die belangrikse is dat julle reelings vir desember veilig is. Hulle target nie die toeriste nie dit is net ,n interne menings verskil. As julle gewonder het stel ek julle net gerus. Morning All In the news this morning I heard about trouble between Frelimo and Renamo. I phoned a friend of us in Maputo , Nigel who is in charge of security in Maputo. He assured me that it is nothing to worry about. This has been going on for many years already in the northern provinces higher than Inhassoro, nothing new to them. He assured me that all is safe for all tourists for December”’ Hantie Shibumi Lodge Edu Kleyn – Makolo Bay, Barra 10:12am Nov 5 After all the negative posts about Moz in the press, and as a lodge owner that is being accused of hiding the truth from tourists I must respond as what I see as the reality concerning the security situation in Moz. First of all nobody is denying that there is a conflict between Frelimo and Renamo, and that there has been a loss of life in these clashes, but the fact that all the attacks have been in the central and North of the country is not widely told, from the Rio Save going north to Muxungue is a hotspot for attacks and there are convoys to get transport safely through this stretch of the main road, there has been attacks on cars and busses in this area. The other area is to the far north of the country in the Gorongoza district. The Rio Save is 400km from Inhambane and Gorongoza is 1000 km away, the North of the country has always been a Renamo stronghold from the days that the SA apartheid government trained and funded them ,there has not been any attacks to the south of the Rio Save as far as I know what is not being said is that Renamo have stated that they want peace and are dissatisfied with the electoral system and the division of the money being generated by the coalfields and gas fields in the north of the country. On yesterdays Moz news it was reported that the leader of Renamo and the president will have a meeting on the 18th November to find answers for their differences and to end the conflict. Renamo have lost most of their support among the voters, after the war they got more than 40% of the vote, in the last election they got something around the 15% mark, they are a spent force, they have no international backing without that there is no way they can wage a war, they have even lost Beira to a new party the NDM this has always been a Renamo controlled city. Concerning the E news broadcast this morning, the rapport they put on the TV is totally biased, the riot scenes they put on the screen was of the of riots that happened three years ago in Maputo, then they stated that Renamo has attacked civilian targets all over the country, this of course is a total lie, all the attacks have been in the central and in the north of the country, when this sort of hogwash gets put on TV then it just proves that they are not interested in the truth but in sensation. I am not for one moment saying there is not a problem, people have been killed and that is serious enough, but talking to people from Inhasorro, Vilanculos and further south there has not been one incident of Renamo attacks in the whole area, everything is peaceful according to them, in the Inhambane area there is no conflict and all the local people are against any conflict. The demonstration that was held in Maputo last week was attended by 30000 people they were protesting against crime in Maputo and the escalating tension and clashes between the two political parties, there was no violence breaking and looting, the people of Maputo must be commended for their discipline and showing the rest of the world that Africa can have peaceful demonstration Lastly I have no intention of putting any of my guests in danger who have booked for the December holidays, if the violence moves south I will inform my guests of the situation, and give options to them on what to do, until that happens I am quite happy that the southern part of Moz is stable and safe and that the problems and conditions are the same as it has been the last 10 years. If you can send this as a standard letter to all your clients. Please see info below The skirmishes between Frelimo and Renamo have been going on for years in the northern parts of Mozambique (many hours north of Barra) near the Gorongosa National Park in the province of Sofala. These are ‘’old’’ Renamo soldiers who have a small base in the area trying to make a name for themselves leading up to elections (they have rapidly been losing popularity and seats over the past few years) . This is purely politically motivated, they are not targeting tourists nor do they have the manpower or financial resources to stage a war. Tourism is the one of the main sources of income for Mozambique and in 2005 the tourist industry in Mozambique grew by 37%, the fastest tourist industry growth rate in the world – the Mozambique Government will not let a few old soldiers threaten this source of income! As per most African countries, there is always a skirmish between rival political parties prior to an election – our own SA papers reported on ANC supporters intimidating DA supporters in Soweto last week – not to mention the ongoing and violent xenophobia in SA! Mozambique is currently a much safer country than South Africa where hijackings, violence, rape and murders are a daily occurrence and seldom reported on! As a member of the Inhambane Tourism Association, we have received no cautions/warnings regarding the situation. If at any time they felt it necessary to do so, we would be advised and in turn would notify all our clients. IF, the entire country was destabilised to the point where Mozambique Tourism felt it was unsafe for tourists to travel, they would advise holiday establishments and they in turn would advise their guests. Below are mails received from lodge owners in Mozambique “’We have been in touch with Ministers of Tourism, Police and The Governor of Vilanculos and he has assured us that the problem is far north from that. We feel based on this and the assurance from the Mozambique Government that Tourists travelling to Mozambique Lower than the Sofala Province are 100% safe If you speak to anybody in Mozambique from the Minister of Tourism to Rogerio who we all know everybody says it is safe to travel. France came home on Thursday, Neil on Friday, Shayle on Sunday there was no army or police presence on the road besides the norm’’. Carol Creighton Paradise Beach Lodge, Pomene “’Please advise that there is NOTHING to fear. This unrest happened in the far north of Mozambique. We did not even know about anything. Everything is going on like normal. We sleep with open doors and windows, walk for kilometres on the beach without any incident”’! Heida Steyn Paradise Magoo, Xai Xai ‘’We not into official statements or claiming to have all the answers but we would like a bit of common sense to prevail over the very isolated tit for tat contact in Sofala Province. Obviously we all want to be safe. But please. Folks, lets understand a few things. Purely in terms of proven daily exposure to violent crime, your chances of getting exposed to any trouble in central Mozambique if you are going on holiday in Southern Mozambique are virtually nil. Your trip there through South Africa will offer you more risk than on the roads in Mozambique. More people have been raped and murdered in Mpumalanga this year than in Mozambique the last 20 years!- it’s like saying there is trouble in Cape Town so I cant take my family on holiday to the Drakensburg’’. MOZambique Magazine “’Ek het vanoggend op die nuus gehoor dat daar gerugte van moeilikheid in mosamiek is. Ons het met Nigel in Maputo gesels vanoggend. Hy in beheer van die sekuriteit in Maputo en is baie op hoogte van die politieke toestande daar. Volgens hom is die ontevredenheid tussen Renamo en Frelimo bo die Inhasorro provinsie . Die provinsie is baie hoog op in mosambiek en volgens hom is dit nie van vandag af nie en is dit al vir ,n geruime tyd die geval. Hy het my verseker dat alles baie veilig is van MAPUTO tot VILANCOULUS. Daar is geen rede tot kommer nie en die belangrikse is dat julle reelings vir desember veilig is. Hulle target nie die toeriste nie dit is net ,n interne menings verskil. As julle gewonder het stel ek julle net gerus. Morning All In the news this morning I heard about trouble between Frelimo and Renamo. I phoned a friend of us in Maputo , Nigel who is in charge of security in Maputo. He assured me that it is nothing to worry about. This has been going on for many years already in the northern provinces higher than Inhassoro, nothing new to them. He assured me that all is safe for all tourists for December”’ Hantie Shibumi Lodge Edu Kleyn – Makolo Bay, Barra 10:12am Nov 5 After all the negative posts about Moz in the press, and as a lodge owner that is being accused of hiding the truth from tourists I must respond as what I see as the reality concerning the security situation in Moz. First of all nobody is denying that there is a conflict between Frelimo and Renamo, and that there has been a loss of life in these clashes, but the fact that all the attacks have been in the central and North of the country is not widely told, from the Rio Save going north to Muxungue is a hotspot for attacks and there are convoys to get transport safely through this stretch of the main road, there has been attacks on cars and busses in this area. The other area is to the far north of the country in the Gorongoza district. The Rio Save is 400km from Inhambane and Gorongoza is 1000 km away, the North of the country has always been a Renamo stronghold from the days that the SA apartheid government trained and funded them ,there has not been any attacks to the south of the Rio Save as far as I know what is not being said is that Renamo have stated that they want peace and are dissatisfied with the electoral system and the division of the money being generated by the coalfields and gas fields in the north of the country. On yesterdays Moz news it was reported that the leader of Renamo and the president will have a meeting on the 18th November to find answers for their differences and to end the conflict. Renamo have lost most of their support among the voters, after the war they got more than 40% of the vote, in the last election they got something around the 15% mark, they are a spent force, they have no international backing without that there is no way they can wage a war, they have even lost Beira to a new party the NDM this has always been a Renamo controlled city. Concerning the E news broadcast this morning, the rapport they put on the TV is totally biased, the riot scenes they put on the screen was of the of riots that happened three years ago in Maputo, then they stated that Renamo has attacked civilian targets all over the country, this of course is a total lie, all the attacks have been in the central and in the north of the country, when this sort of hogwash gets put on TV then it just proves that they are not interested in the truth but in sensation. I am not for one moment saying there is not a problem, people have been killed and that is serious enough, but talking to people from Inhasorro, Vilanculos and further south there has not been one incident of Renamo attacks in the whole area, everything is peaceful according to them, in the Inhambane area there is no conflict and all the local people are against any conflict. The demonstration that was held in Maputo last week was attended by 30000 people they were protesting against crime in Maputo and the escalating tension and clashes between the two political parties, there was no violence breaking and looting, the people of Maputo must be commended for their discipline and showing the rest of the world that Africa can have peaceful demonstration Lastly I have no intention of putting any of my guests in danger who have booked for the December holidays, if the violence moves south I will inform my guests of the situation, and give options to them on what to do, until that happens I am quite happy that the southern part of Moz is stable and safe and that the problems and conditions are the same as it has been the last 10 years.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 08:09:15 +0000
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