The Mozambican Minister of the Interior, Arsénia Massingue, is meeting today in Cape Town with the South African Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, to discuss cross-border crime.

The face-to-face meeting between the ministers follows meetings between senior police officers from Mozambique and South Africa, in the wake of the wave of attacks on Mozambican-registered vehicles on the stretch between the cities of Maputo and Durban.

A total of seven vehicles were set on fire, two on January 24, four on January 28 and one on January 30.

The vehicles set on fire include a passenger bus and a cargo truck.

After vehement protests from the Maputo authorities, the police from both countries met in Durban and the Mozambican capital on February 3.

It was at the end of the Maputo meeting that the minister, Arsénia Massingue, announced this Wednesday's meeting in Cape Town.

"We are very concerned. We made immediate contact with our South African counterpart to request a meeting, so that we could sit down and discuss this and other issues, but with this one as a priority, which is the most critical at the moment," she said, quoted by Rádio Moçambique.

At the top of the agenda is cross-border crime, with an emphasis on vehicle theft in both countries.

It is suspected that the attacks were in retaliation for alleged seizures by the Mozambican authorities of stolen cars in the land of the rand.

Apparently, criminal groups linked to vehicle theft are trying to force the return of these cars.

The ministers will also discuss the operationalization of joint patrolling of the common border area between Mozambique and South Africa. (RM)