Renewed violence broke out in Ressano Garcia, Mozambique, on Saturday shortly after the funeral of digital creator Mano Shottas, as the attendees were on their way home.

Photographer Pedrito Strip first captured the funeral proceedings on a Facebook Live video. In a follow-up video, he films images of trucks used to blockade the road and the police’s Rapid Intervention Unit opening fire. On the back of the police vehicle, an injured person can be seen.

In a dramatic turn of events, Strip is shot through the hand, and the tense scenes unfold while still broadcasting live.

In the next 40 minutes, Strip and a group of young men wind through the Ressano Garcia village, stopping at one point to wrap a piece of cloth around his wrist before continuing the journey.

Sporadic gunshots can be heard on the video.

At one stage, with blood streaming from the gunshot wound, Strip starts to lean more on his group before one of the men eventually carries him on his back.

GRAPHIC VIDEO WARNING: Sensitive viewers advised

This morning, December 16, a post on his Facebook page indicated that he could not find any aid in Ressano Garcia, and they proceeded to take him across the border to a medical facility in South Africa. It was confirmed that he is being treated at Tonga Hospital.

On Sunday morning, traffic flow at the border was back to normal.

The Decide Electoral Platform published new data yesterday, indicating that at least 130 people have died and 385 were shot during the post-election demonstrations in Mozambique.

It further stated that about 2 000 people were injured.

The Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique’s (Podemos) leader, Venâncio Mondlane, will announce the details of the Turbo V8 phase of protests today. In previous Facebook Live posts, Mondlane warned that this phase will be ‘extremely painful’ for the country because the ‘regime is engaging in a tug of war with the people’.

Yesterday, Rapport published that the mysterious landing of the US military C-17 Globemaster cargo aeroplane was linked to American Intelligence operations. According to the publication, intelligence agencies from the USA and South Africa met in the Kruger National Park last week to discuss the crisis in the neighbouring Mozambique. The evacuation contingency plans for American and other countries’ embassy personnel were deliberated.

Bar Association reacts to proclamation of election results

 In a press statement on Friday, the Mozambican Bar Association (OAM) announced the organisation has been closely monitoring the process of validation and proclamation of the results of the October 9 presidential elections.

“This follows the significant irresponsibility demonstrated by the National Electoral Commission [CNE], which announced the general tabulation of these election results while acknowledging severe irregularities. These irregularities include discrepancies in voter numbers across the different elections, high abstention rates in all electoral districts, and elevated numbers of blank and null votes. Remarkably, the CNE claimed it was not in a position to conduct investigative actions to determine the causes of these anomalies at this stage of the process,” the statement read.

The OAM said in an apparent act of unprecedented transparency, the Constitutional Council invited some media representatives to observe its work in validating and proclaiming the contested election results. The council explained that its method involved comparing the official tally sheets presented by the competing parties and the CNE. If two parties’ tally sheets matched, but differed from the CNE’s, the former would be validated. If all tally sheets from the parties and the CNE conflicted, the CNE’s would be validated.

“However, with all due respect, this approach does not align with the legal criteria for validating documentary evidence, whether it be an official or private document. This criterion adopted by the Constitutional Council represents a clear departure from the current legal framework,” the statement read.

In its explanation, the OAM stated: “Both private and official documents carry full evidentiary weight based on their recorded statements. Thus, the probative value of private documents lies in the declarations they contain as made by their respective signatories. Similarly, the evidentiary value of official documents pertains to the formation of the declaration, not its validity or effectiveness. Consequently, the truthfulness of the tally sheets cannot be determined merely by cross comparison, but requires testimonial evidence from the individuals who signed them. Any deviation from this process is both ineffective and illegal, which is intolerable for a constitutional court, particularly the Constitutional Council, as the supreme and unappealable authority.

“If the Constitutional Council genuinely sought to enhance the credibility and transparency of the electoral process, it should have conducted public hearings on it, involving representatives, journalists and election observers, to produce legally admissible evidence. Claims that public hearings are not explicitly provided for by law are unfounded, as Article 201(1) of the Civil Procedure Code states that the omission of a prescribed act only results in nullity if explicitly declared or if it affects the examination or decision of the case. Public hearings would not impact the examination or decision in this case, as their purpose is merely to uncover the material truth behind the electoral process.”

Also read: Mozambique in turmoil, South Africans should stay away