Three reporters of the Novo Jornal daily, their driver and a rapper famed for his inflammatory lyrics against dos Santos were arrested overnight in Luanda, said one of the organisers, Mangovo Ngoyo, speaking by telephone from London.
Following the arrests, organisers pushed back the demonstration to later on Monday after initially planning to march at midnight, he added. Ngoyo is a member of the separatist movement in Cabinda, an oil-rich enclave in this former Portuguese colony.
The director of Novo Jornal, Victor Silva, said the journalists were part of a group of some 15 people arrested at May 1 Square in the capital, Luanda, and carted away to a police station. He said all the detainees were later released.
“They were detained for no apparent reason,” Silva said of the journalists.
“They were in May 1 Square to report on whether or not the protest was happening, the number of people present, etc.”
Police did not immediately respond to requests for information.
North Africa-style protests
Since last month, rumours have circulated on the internet of North Africa-style protests scheduled to begin on March 7.
While the organisers of the protest remain largely anonymous, a Facebook page called “The Angolan People’s Revolution” had called on Angolans to march at midnight with posters “demanding the departure of Ze Du [Dos Santos’ nickname], his ministers and his corrupt friends”.
Rapper Brigadeiro Mata Frakus, who recently returned from exile, is hugely popular on the internet since he released a song criticising dos Santos, in power since 1979.
The chief opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), has said it would not take part in the protests because it does not know who is calling for the marches.
There were no signs of people gathering in May 1 Square at noon (11:00 GMT), two hours before the rescheduled protest was due to start. Military police patrolled the streets, which were unusually quiet.
Many had dismissed the anonymous call to protest as a charade but the ruling party, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), reacted with a show of strength by organising large pro-government demonstrations on Saturday in Luanda and several other cities.
Angola is the continent’s largest producer of crude oil along with Nigeria, but the majority of its 18 million people live beneath the poverty line.
Angola is rich
“What outrages people is that Angola is a rich country. The government knows well that the level of discontent is growing,” investigative journalist Rafael Marques told AFP on Sunday.
“All this has created a debate on the idea of regime change,” he added.
But more than 80% of voters elected the presidential party during 2008 elections, the first since the end of its 27-year civil war in 2002.
Elias Isaac, head of non-profit Open Society’s Angola office, said the country faces problems similar to those that sparked the unrest in north Africa, but was unlikely to return to violence so soon after its civil war.
“There are enough ingredients in Angola for people to easily connect with what’s happening in north Africa, especially in the social and political arenas,” he said.
But, he added, “There have only been eight years of peace here, and the people, who lost everything, aren’t ready to let go of the little they’ve acquired.”