“I don’t know how I’m still alive”: the attempted assassination of a journalist covering illegal mining in Mozambique

Carlitos Cadanguewas preparing to leave the city in his car along with his son shortly after 6 p.m. when two armed and hooded individuals emerged from an orange-and-black vehicle about 300 metres from his home and opened fireseveral times on the journalist's car.

"I instinctively turned the steering wheel. One of the bullets entered on the passenger side, narrowly missing my son. I don't know how I'm still alive," Carlitos Cadangue toldhis television channel an hour after the attack. The impact of at least two bullets - one on the car's windscreen and another on the upper part of the passenger door - can be seen in the same video.

After revealingthe identities of some of the people allegedly involved in the legal mining activities he'd been coveringfor months, Carlitos Cadangue had alerted his newsroom that he felt threatened and had made a habit of returning home before nightfall.

According to RSF information, the Chimoio police opened an investigation into the assassination attempt a few hours after the attack.

The attack targeting Carlitos Cadangue was strongly condemned by the press throughout the country, starting with SOICO, the parent company of STV, and the national branch of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). In a statement published on 5 February, President Daniel Chapo also firmly condemned the assassination attempt, which he called an "attack," all while demanding answers from the relevant authorities.

Journalist murdered in December 2023

The failed assassination attempt sadly echoes the murder of journalist João Fernando Chamusse, former editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper Ponto por Ponto,whose body, displaying signs of violence, was found in his garden on 14 December 2023.