The workers of Tongaat Hulett, owner of Açucareira de Xinavane, set fire to houses and cars since the early hours of today, and also vandalized commercial establishments, some of them close to the Police Station of that village in Manhiça district. In all this there is still no data about the loss of human lives, only about a hit. Some people have been detained by the police.

"The terror that is happening in Cabo Delgado is what is happening right now here in Xinavane, because they have already burned down the Police Post, the house of the head of the Post, the house of the Director of Company Security, and many cars. There has been a lot of vandalizing, a lot of looting," a journalist from a community radio station in that village told MZNews.

The village's commercial centers, public and private institutions, the community radio station are closing their doors fearing greater damage, including the loss of human life. So far it is known that a woman was run over by one of the company's managers, who did not deign to help the victim.

"The hit was serious, and the victim has already been transferred to one of the hospitals in Maputo City," the source revealed.

Until about 11 o'clock, the circulation on the road that connects the district of Manhiça and that of Magude was interrupted.

The demonstration of the Xinavane sugar mill workers began on January 31, 2022, and was expected to last only 15 days. This was proposed by the Union of Sugar Industry Workers - SINTIA. But since then, negotiations with the employers have led to discontent among the employees in the production fields.

In fact, the claim, still peaceful, began on Tuesday. The plan was to reach an agreement between the field workers and the management of Tongaat Hulett. But at the negotiating table the talks took another turn.

"Just yesterday a contingent of eight police officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit arrived here and threw tear gas all over the village including schools, and the children didn't study and the market traders didn't work either, and today this is what we see," reported one of our sources.

Even this morning the demonstration was peaceful, but the arrival in the village reignited the despondency there "and people joined [the workers], because the village also has its problems" leading to it becoming a popular strike.

The police detained some people, who the population then searched for them at the local Police Station, but without success, "because they were taken to the Manhiça jail.

"At the local police station no one is there anymore but the person in charge of SERNIC, here in Xinavane.

Tongaat Hulett workers are demanding wages, and compensation promised since 2016.