A new government audit has revealed that the Mozambican capital registered 2,202 individuals living on the streets, engaged in street begging, or subjected to child labor between July 2025 and June 2026.
The annual report identifies extreme poverty, high systemic unemployment, and domestic instability as the primary structural drivers forcing vulnerable populations into municipal margins.
The extensive data was compiled in the Annual Report of the Campaign for Assistance to the Homeless Population, Begging Practitioners, and Child Labor, released today by the Social Affairs Service of the Council of State Representation Services in Maputo City.
According to the official findings, the tracked cases are segmented into three distinct categories of vulnerability. 1,528 individuals documented as sleeping and living permanently on the streets, 549 individuals identified as active practitioners of panhandling, and 125 children intercepted in exploitative labor conditions.
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A demographic analysis of Maputo’s homeless population shows a distinct concentration of adult men, who account for 833 cases. This group is followed by 339 male children, 258 adult women, and 67 individuals living with physical or cognitive disabilities.
The report emphasizes that the crisis is exacerbated by deep-seated cultural and structural factors. Beyond the primary pressures of economic exclusion and job scarcity, state investigators highlighted the “normalization of almsgiving” and the calculated economic exploitation of children by organized groups as critical hurdles to shifting the status quo.
The highest concentrations of vulnerable populations are located within Maputo’s urban centers, specifically utilizing abandoned buildings, public squares, commercial corridors, open-air markets, busy traffic intersections, and transit terminals.
The municipal district of Kampfumu was identified as the absolute epicenter of the crisis, generating the highest volume of cases and requiring an urgent, coordinated intervention framework between public agencies, civic organizations, and the private sector.
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To counter the growing numbers, social response teams deployed into the field three times a week throughout the year. Field operations focused on direct identification, social registry mapping, immediate psychosocial support, institutional referrals to state shelters, and family reintegration efforts.
The program utilizes a specialized digital database to track individual progress and monitor recurring cases over time.
While the campaign ran continuously across the 12-month window, field activities experienced a temporary deceleration between December and February. This slowdown was triggered by the combined disruption of the holiday season and severe regional flooding that impacted infrastructure across the capital. Normal operational tempos resumed in March, marked by comprehensive data updates, team restructuring, and intensified community awareness programs.
The Social Affairs Service concluded that the campaign represents a strategic milestone in addressing social exclusion in Maputo. However, the report stresses that the issue remains a long-term structural challenge that demands an integrated, results-oriented approach, calling for expanded public budgets and stronger multi-sector coordination to systematically reduce homelessness moving forward.
