TWO MOUNTAINS BURIAL SERVICE TAKES A LEGAL STANCE
Two Mountains Burial Services (TMBS) filed legal action in the Gauteng Province High Court in Pretoria, adding another layer to the legal dispute over the remains of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu.
The government of Zambia has recently settled expenses related to holding the remains, which has contributed to the ongoing legal arguments.
TMBS supports Zambian governmental positions and argues that the Lungu family’s claim for an urgent order to retrieve the remains was premised on incomplete disclosures of critical facts, essentially claiming this constitutes an abuse of legal process.
TMBS asserts that the applicants neglected to fully disclose relevant prior court orders issued by the Deputy Judge President and Acting Justice Myburgh in 2025, crucial for understanding the context.
Moreover, there has been a miscommunication regarding the repatriation of the remains, as TMBS states its counsel informed the applicants that repatriation would not occur—a point they have documented in their legal submissions.
Essentially, TMBS believes the legal interpretations presented by the applicants concerning previous judgments, particularly that of 8 August 2025, have been misrepresented. For instance, the applicants incorrectly claimed that the release of the remains required their presence, which TMBS disputes as an inaccurate account.
Crucially, TMBS points to procedural missteps by the applicants regarding a lapsed appeal before the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). They argue that the applicants have failed to act appropriately despite being warned on multiple occasions about the implications of the lapsed appeal, including correspondence from the government’s attorney urging them to file a condonation application.
The circumstances led to TMBS formally requesting punishment for the applicants in the form of legal costs, asserting that the applicants’ actions or inactions have caused unnecessary legal complications.
As such, TMBS is pleading for the discharge of the interim court order granted on 22 April 2026 and seeking an award for punitive costs due to the perceived abuse of judicial process by the applicants. The reconsideration of these matters is set for 30 April
2026.
BY GIVEN MUTINTA