Tumahole’s municipal office officially reopened on September 23, more than two years after the building was damaged during a service delivery protest in January 2023. Services that will now be rendered at the Tumahole office include electricity purchases, payment of municipal accounts, indigent applications, reporting of service delivery issues, ownership transfers, residential services, and cemetery-related assistance.

During the unrest of 2023, the building was set alight as residents took to the streets to demonstrate their frustration with the town’s ongoing water woes. Tyres and JoJo water tanks were burnt, schools were disrupted, businesses were looted, and the home of Ngwathe’s executive mayor’s mother was burnt down in Schonkenville.

Protesters closed access routes into the town and marched to the municipal offices and the Parys Water Treatment Plant to demand answers from the municipality, leaving behind a trail of disruption.

The reopening of the offices restores easier access to municipal services for residents of Tumahole and the surrounding areas. Ngwathe’s Executive Mayor Clr Victoria De Beer-Mthombeni on Tuesday reaffirmed in her keynote address at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the council’s commitment to bringing services closer to the people. “Renovation of the building could be done after the insurance paid out for the damage caused by the arson,” the municipal manager, Dr F.P Mothamaha, said. The re-opening of the office was attended by municipal management, the mayoral committee, councillors, municipal employees, and community members.