Lungu Family Appeal Raises Questions of Law, Dignity, and Sovereignty
South Africa 8th September, 2025
The High Court has been asked to grant leave to appeal in the high-profile case involving the burial of Zambia’s late president, Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, as his family continues its legal battle to protect his dignity and the wishes of his widow.
Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, representing the family, told the court that the case raises complex and novel legal issues that cannot be left to a single judgment.
“This is the first matter we know of where a foreign state comes to South African courts seeking to enforce its will over the remains of a deceased person,” he argued.
Central to the family’s case is the claim that the Zambian government cannot revive benefits that had already been revoked during Mr. Lungu’s lifetime. While the Kaunda precedent is often cited, Ngcukaitobi pointed out that Kaunda died while still enjoying state benefits, whereas Mr. Lungu had lost them.
“You cannot reinstate rights on a corpse,” he said firmly.
The advocate also highlighted that Zambia’s own legal history drawn from both English common law and Roman-Dutch traditions recognises that human remains fall outside contractual obligations. Instead, the authority rests with the heirs.
“Both traditions agree: it is the family who decides. And in this case, the widow has spoken.”
Another key strand of the argument rests on constitutional rights. Zambia, like South Africa, has a supreme constitution that protects dignity, equality, and privacy. Ngcukaitobi insisted that these rights extend to Mrs. Lungu as the surviving spouse, and no one can compel her to accept state-sponsored burial benefits against her will.
Beyond the personal tragedy lies a profound constitutional concern. Allowing a foreign government to dictate terms of burial, Ngcukaitobi warned, risks setting a dangerous precedent where state power is projected across borders, eroding both sovereignty and individual rights.
“The case is fact-specific, yes,” he conceded.
“But it is precisely its uniqueness that calls for the Supreme Court of Appeal to pronounce authoritatively.”
For the Lungu family, the legal battle has been long and painful. Yet at its core, their appeal is about something universal: the right of a widow to bury her husband with dignity, choice, and peace.
Lungu was not a South African citizen.He was a former head of state of Zambia who died in a South African hospital.Tne South African constitution has specific prescription as to what a South African citizen is.It is in the South African law backed by their constitution to remove non citizens,dead or alive from that country
Lungu’s lose of. benefits was an operation of law and a deliberate effort of the executive.Lungu was lawyer who was well aware of the attendant consequences of returning to activate politics in Zambia.Reinstating of benefits to survivors is also prescribed by law.It therefore,stands that wether or not,the survivors refuses the the benefits thereof,the operation of the law cannot be suspended.As a person who once led Zambia as President,the people of Zambia represented by the current government have precedence over his remains with shall be buried with the dignity deserving of a former head of state
What act of law has South Africa being using to repatriate the remains of their freedom fighters to South.
At the their time of burial, there was no dispute or court cases. They knew at some point in a democratic South Africa, a request would be made for their bodies to be exhumed and reburied in South Africa.
There is national policy for the repatriation and restitution of human remains and heritage objects act for collaboration country to country model they use,we can use it too.