At 15:00 today (December 23) a pivotal moment in the Mozambican political landscape was reached when Lúcia Ribeiro of the Constitutional Council (CC)  announced the outcome of its probe into the results of the seventh presidential and legislative elections, which were held in October this year.

The announcement of a landslide win for the Frelimo party was followed by violent protests by the Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique’s (Podemos), and its presidential candidate, Venâncio Mondlane’s implementation of what he dubbed the ‘4×4 Phase’ of protests.

The Constitutional Council confirmed the victory of Daniel Chapo and the Frelimo Party. Its ruling is likely to spark further protests in the country.

Hundreds have lost their lives since the end of October and the death of a digital creator, Mano Shottas, who was killed on Thursday, December 12 while he was broadcasting the police actions in Ressano Garcia live on Facebook, added fuel to the fire.

Watch the video of Mano Shottas being shot here:

This video shows the exact moment a man was shot 1 hour ago in Ressano Garcia (border with South Africa) while doing a Facebook Live.

Ressano was under Tear gas. The man shot (Mano Shotta) was on the streets Live on Facebook criticizing the way security forces were… pic.twitter.com/VzYcJrCtst

— Cídia Chissungo (@Cidiachissungo) December 12, 2024

During Shottas’s burial on Saturday, December 14, photographer Strip Pedrito of SPMTV documented the funeral and subsequent police shootings, and was shot while broadcasting live on Facebook.

Caxton Network News traced Pedrito this morning. He confirmed that he was released from Tonga Hospital in Nkomazi, near the Mozambican border, yesterday afternoon.

(Warning: Graphic content) Watch a video of Pedrito being rushed to hospital here.

Pedrito said he was documenting Shottas’s funeral live on social media and at the end of the proceedings crossed the street to buy water.

This is when the police started shooting, and Pedrito claims he saw them shoot a Zimbabwean truck driver. He started streaming the moment the wounded man was loaded onto the police vehicle.

“I was about 1km from them but they saw us. My crew and I were hiding in the kitchen of someone in the village and the next moment I realised that I had been shot in the arm. They didn’t want us to film what was really happening in Ressano Garcia.”

Also read: Mozambique: Weekend violence precedes Turbo V8 protest phase announcement

The crew stayed live while Pedrito crisscrossed Ressano Garcia village for over an hour to seek help. He told the newspaper that police were watching the clinics and that it had not been safe for him to seek help in the area.

He was assisted to cross the border into South Africa and transported to Tonga Hospital.

He has not returned to Mozambique yet, but told Network News that he will not be stopped from doing his work.

Pedrito said the Ressano Garcia area was calm this morning, but his colleagues told him there was a high police presence which could possibly lead to quick intervention if the situation erupts after the announcement.

The Mozambican media this morning reported that Maputo was quiet and calm as all public transport had been stopped for the day.

Mondlane will announce the detail of his party’s V8 Turbo phase of protest actions after the outcome of the CC findings have been broadcast.

Thousands of South African tourists are currently in Mozambique, despite travel warnings issued by various lodges and social media groups in the recent past.