ECL LAWSUIT UPDATE; Government abandons lawsuit against South African Government.
Zambian Government Backtracks in South African Court Over Lungu Family Legal Battle
….Legal Misstep Sparks Diplomatic Embarrassment as Zambia Withdraws Case Elements Against South African Government….
Pretoria, South Africa – July 8, 2025
Government of the Republic of Zambia has amended its application in an ongoing case before the High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria), raising serious questions about its understanding of diplomatic law and international protocol.
The case, filed under number 2025-096565, originally listed nine respondents, including former First Lady Esther Lungu, her children, the Lungu family spokesperson Makebi Zulu, and controversially, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa. The inclusion of a serving South African cabinet minister or Ministry sparked criticism for breaching international norms and potentially violating provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, which governs how states interact on sovereign soil.
Zambia’s move to rope in a South African minister as a respondent was an infringement on South Africa’s sovereignty and a potential breach of established diplomatic protocol and was legally improper. It violated the Vienna Convention especially Articles 31, 32, and 41. It disrespected the sovereign immunity, a core international principle.
Under growing pressure, the Zambian government filed a Notice of Amendment on July 7, 2025, in which it formally withdrew the ninth respondent the South African Minister and deleted key paragraphs (3.11 and 3.12) from its supplementary founding affidavit. Additionally, the government has tendered the costs occasioned by the amendment, a rare move that signals legal fault or procedural misconduct.
This is a textbook case of what happens when domestic politics overrides legal prudence,” said a South African legal scholar based in Johannesburg.
The Vienna Convention clearly protects foreign state actors from such legal entanglements, and this move by Zambia reflects either ignorance or deliberate defiance of those principles.
This case is not just a legal blunder but a diplomatic disaster.
Dragging a foreign minister into your domestic political feud especially over the burial and legacy of a former head of state is both reckless and shameful, said Qhawe on Facebook
The Zambian government’s efforts to litigate matters surrounding the late President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and his family have been viewed as politically motivated and vindictive. Many observers now question whether the entire application intended to block or interfere with arrangements made by the Lungu family in South Africa was ever legally sound.
The withdrawal underscores the diplomatic weight and international legal principles that must be respected when one state seeks to act against another on foreign soil.
One thing is clear, the Zambian government’s approach has not only raised legal eyebrows but also created a ripple effect of mistrust and caution in its international dealings at a time when it can least afford further diplomatic fallout.
