The Mozambican government has today approved authorisation to revise the road code, introducing a points-based driving licence system and the use of surveillance cameras for road traffic enforcement.
“The law authorises the government to revise the Road Code with a view to adapting its rules to the dynamics of national and international road traffic, technological advances and sustainable mobility,” government spokesperson Salim Valá said at the end of the weekly Council of Ministers meeting.
At the meeting in Maputo, the Council of Ministers considered and approved the draft law authorising the government to revise the Road Code, adopted in 2011, repeal existing legislation and adapt complementary laws, before submitting it to parliament.
Among the measures planned is the introduction of a “points-based driving licence system, already in use in other jurisdictions”, Valá, who is also Minister of Planning and Development, said.
He also noted plans to “strengthen mechanisms for monitoring and controlling road traffic offences, align the Road Code with national criminal law, and introduce surveillance cameras on public roads for traffic enforcement purposes”. Valá stressed that the use of cameras on roads will be “strictly for traffic control purposes”.
The revision of the Road Code, which will still be developed by the government, will also allow for the inclusion of “new types of vehicles, namely electric, gas-powered and hybrid vehicles”, as well as strengthening controls on drivers, particularly in passenger and freight transport.
At least 25 people died in Mozambique in a single week at the end of May due to road accidents, with authorities sanctioning 2,513 drivers for various traffic offences, according to earlier reports.
“Road accidents caused 25 deaths in the last week (4–10 May). The most serious crash occurred on Saturday, killing 16 people, 11 of them children,” the National Road Transport Institute (INATRO) said in a statement.
On 4 December, the Mozambican government said it wanted “zero tolerance” for traffic offenders in order to reduce road accidents, Transport and Logistics Minister João Matlombe said.
“If we introduce zero tolerance for anyone driving without a licence, we will significantly reduce accidents,” he said.
On 27 November, the President warned police to take measures to curb road fatalities, also linking the problem to corruption within the force, saying he did not understand how commanders could “sleep” amid the situation.
“Comrades, what are you waiting for to take corrective measures to stop road accidents? It does not make sense for you to sleep while innocent lives are being lost on public roads, due to criminal and complicit protection by those who could control and prevent these accidents,” Daniel Chapo said.
On the same occasion, the head of state said that between January and September there were 408 road accidents nationwide, down from 459 in 2024, causing 662 deaths, compared with 555 fatalities in the same period in 2024, figures which show that road accidents are “more deadly” than malaria, which recorded 308 hospital deaths in 2024.
Source: Lusa
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