LUNGU FAMILY WINS BURIAL APPEAL AS SA COURT REJECTS ZAMBIA GOVERNMENT CLAIM
By Brian Matambo | Media Director – 23 June 2026
The Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa has upheld the appeal by the family of former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, setting aside the Pretoria High Court order that had allowed the Zambian Government to repatriate his remains for a state funeral and burial at Embassy Park in Lusaka.
In a majority judgment delivered today, the court ruled that the Zambian Government had failed to prove any legal right, under common law, contract, custom or statute, to override the burial decision of the late President’s family.
The court found that burial decisions fall within the sphere of family dignity, privacy and autonomy, especially where the dispute is not between family members, but between a family and a state seeking to exercise public power over the remains of a deceased person.
The judgment also rejected the Government’s reliance on the Benefits of Former Presidents Act, noting that President Lungu’s benefits had been withdrawn before his death and that the Act, in any event, only provides for reimbursement of funeral expenses, not control over burial decisions.
On the question of Zambian custom and protocol, the court held that the Government failed to provide independent expert evidence proving that Zambian law gave it authority over the burial of a former President. The court said a party cannot act as its own expert in proceedings where foreign law must be proved as a fact.
The court further rejected the finding by the High Court that the family had entered into a binding agreement allowing the Government to repatriate and bury President Lungu in Zambia under arrangements involving President Hakainde Hichilema. It found that the documents relied upon were proposals and that the media transcripts cited by Government did not prove final agreement by the family.
Crucially, the court accepted that the late former President had expressed strong opposition to President Hichilema’s involvement in his funeral and burial. The majority held that the family’s decision was consistent with honouring those wishes.
The appeal was upheld with costs, including the costs of two counsel where employed. The High Court order was replaced with an order dismissing the Zambian Government’s application.
Justice Norman delivered a dissenting judgment, finding that there had been an agreement between the parties. However, the majority decision now stands as the binding order of the court.