Mozambican Blogger Shot Dead While Livestreaming Chromium Pollution Protest

The killing of Mano Shottas and continued illegal dumping along the Mozambique-South Africa border illustrate the gap between documented environmental harm and state enforcement action.

A young Mozambican blogger named Mano Shottas was shot and killed in late 2024 while livestreaming a public protest against pollution linked to the transport of chromium ore in Mozambique, according to a Forbidden Stories investigation published by Daily Maverick. His death marks one of the most direct recorded cases of a citizen journalist being killed during a live broadcast connected to environmental activism in southern Africa.

Shottas had been documenting conditions along a chromium mining and transport corridor that runs through Mozambique toward the border with South Africa. The reporting, published as part of the Forbidden Stories project, a consortium that continues the work of killed journalists, describes illegal dumping of chromium-related material persisting along that corridor after his death, with limited response from Mozambican authorities, according to Daily Maverick.

Chromium ore transport generates significant environmental risk when material is spilled or dumped along transit routes. Hexavalent chromium, a compound that can form during industrial chromium processing, is classified as a human carcinogen by the World Health Organization and is associated with respiratory and skin conditions upon prolonged exposure. The investigation does not specify the precise chemical form of the dumped material, and that distinction would be necessary to fully assess the public health risk to communities along the corridor.

Since Shottas was killed, the Forbidden Stories investigation reports that the few remaining individuals who have attempted to document or report on the dumping have received death threats. No named individuals have been charged in connection with Shottas's killing as of the date of publication, according to the Daily Maverick report. The identity of those responsible for the threats against subsequent whistleblowers is also not established in the available source material.

Mozambique has experienced significant instability since a disputed October 2024 election. Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane contested the results and called for protests, which were met with a security response that drew international criticism. Human Rights Watch reported in early 2025 that more than 300 people were killed during post-election unrest. That political environment has constrained civil society activity and press freedom more broadly, providing context for the muted official response to both the killing and the environmental complaints.

The chromium corridor described in the investigation runs toward South Africa, which is among the world's largest processors of ferrochrome, a product derived from chromium ore used in stainless steel manufacturing. South Africa's Council for Geoscience has documented chromium-related contamination risks in border regions in prior published assessments, though those assessments do not specifically reference the Mozambican transport route discussed in the Forbidden Stories report.

Forbidden Stories is a Paris-based nonprofit consortium that partners with media outlets globally to complete and publish investigative work begun by journalists who have been killed or imprisoned. The organization has previously coordinated publication of the Pegasus Project and the Cartel Project, both of which relied on document sharing across multiple newsrooms.

The Daily Maverick report does not name the company or companies responsible for the chromium transport operations along the contested corridor. That information, if it exists in documentation held by Mozambican or South African regulatory bodies, has not been made public as of the date of this report.

No statement from the Mozambican government addressing Shottas's killing or the dumping allegations was included in the available source material. What formal investigation, if any, Mozambican law enforcement has opened into the killing is not known from current public records.