Following months of government-induced chaos in the urban transport system in the capital, Maputo, the authorities have announced that they will attempt to solve the problem-through yet more state intervention. The situation has arisen following a decision taken in January by Maputo's city council to stop issuing licences to the small, privately owned, 15-seater minibus taxis known as chapas, which have dominated the city's urban transport system for decades. At the same time, an arbitrary police crackdown on the chapas was launched, under which even minor infractions have been heavily punished. The result has been to sharply reduce the number of transport operators, creating chaos for the many thousands of people who depend on these services. By showing such disregard for the needs of the poorest Maputo residents, who depend on public transport, the city council-which is dominated by the nationally ruling party, Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo)-is playing with fire. This risks sparking the type of unrest seen in the city in September in response to rising bread prices (September 2010, The political scene).

At the same time, the government has been promoting the introduction of larger buses, some of them privately operated, but has taken action against the chapas before the new ones are operational. The government's preferred option is to strengthen the state bus company, Transportes Publicos de Maputo (TPM), which has received increasing state investment lately. TPM currently accounts for just 8% of public transport journeys, although it is more than doubling its total fleet, with buses being imported from China and India. Despite growing investment, TPM has weak operational capacity and around half of its buses have been out of service at any given time in recent years. It also operates with heavy subsidies: fares reportedly account for around just 20% of costs. The government decision to direct public funding toward subsidising urban transport has been criticised as a poor choice for alleviating poverty, as it benefits the poor and better off alike, as well as encouraging operational inefficiencies at TPM.