A 15km stretch of dirt road leading to Thembu king Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo's home is set to be paved.

In addition, Bumbane Great Place - which incorporates the king's home and several villages - will also have a 20km fence erected around it.

Department of rural development and agrarian reform spokesman Mtobeli Mxotwa said R22-million has been set aside for these and other projects in the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) local municipality.

"The focus is not only at Bumbane Great Place but in other areas within the areas of KSD. Fencing, paving, irrigation and soil rehabilitation are among other things to be done in the area," said Mxotwa.

Dalindyebo's spokesman Mfundo Mtirara said the king welcomed the developments. "This will not only benefit the kingdom but the greater AbaThembu community," he said.

He said that it would assist the area in developing agriculture, which formed a major part of their focus.

The king is known to be a major critic of the ANC government. He recently refused a driver and personal assistant at his Great Place employed and paid for by the government.

But Mtirara said the development plans for the Great Place were due to the good relationship between the kingdom and the department.

"This is a good relationship we have with this department that has seen such projects becoming reality in our community," said Mtirara.

The paving of the stretch of road from the N2 to Bumbane follows the paving of a road to Mandla Mandela's Mvezo Great Place and the construction of a bridge across the Mbhashe River at a cost of R127-million. Mandla is the great-grandson of the late former president Nelson Mandela.

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