Pretoria Court Orders Release of Edgar Lungu’s Remains to Zambia Amid Family Opposition
By Brian Matambo, Sandton, South Africa
The Pretoria High Court has ordered the immediate release of former Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu’s remains to the Zambian government, rejecting a bid by his widow and children to bury him in South Africa in accordance with their wishes.
In a ruling delivered Friday, the court found that a binding agreement had been reached between the family and the state to repatriate the late leader’s body to Lusaka for a state funeral and burial at Embassy Park, Zambia’s official presidential cemetery. The court invoked the legal doctrine pacta sunt servanda, which means agreements must be kept, and dismissed the family’s argument that the deal was invalid due to misrepresentation.
Family supporters allege the outcome was tainted by political interference. According to sources close to the matter, Robert Chabinga, a political operative with close ties to the ruling administration, received 12 missed calls from President Hakainde Hichilema and 20 missed calls from the Director General of Intelligence in the days leading up to the ruling. In an audio recording, Chabinga is heard telling Cabinet Minister Doreen Mwamba that he was on assignment to bribe the South African judge as instructed by the president. The same sources claim this mission was carried out successfully.
Critics argue that the court has gone against South African legal precedent and its own family law, delivering a verdict that strips the widow of her rights in deciding her husband’s final resting place. “This is an unfair and politically motivated punishment that subjects Mrs. Lungu to unnecessary pain,” said one family ally outside court.
Lungu, who died in Johannesburg on June 5 while undergoing medical treatment, was the sixth president of Zambia and remains a polarising figure in the nation’s politics. The government moved quickly after his death to announce full military honors and an official burial in Lusaka. But on June 18, the day set for repatriation, the family refused to proceed, citing personal and security concerns, and declared their intention to hold a private burial in South Africa.
From the family’s standpoint, the dispute was not merely about protocol but about dignity, safety, and autonomy. They argued that the state should have pursued dialogue rather than litigation, warning that the politicisation of Lungu’s death risked deepening national divisions. President Hakainde Hichilema has not visited the funeral house or called former First Lady Esther Lungu since the president’s passing, a silence the family and supporters see as emblematic of strained relations and a lack of genuine reconciliation.
Under Friday’s order, the late president’s body is to be handed over to Zambian officials immediately, in the presence of his personal physician and two family members, who are authorised to accompany the remains. The family has not yet indicated whether they will appeal.
For Lungu’s supporters, the ruling is a fresh reminder of the lengths to which the state will go to assert control over his legacy, even at the expense of family wishes. For them, it is a story not just about a burial but about the deep entanglement of power, law, and grief.
It’s painful indeed to see the poor sister crying for her brother…and soon to be in the pocket of the abuser. The person who abused your brother in life… Refused him from accessing Treatment, turned him into a virtual Prisoner, and kept him in the morgue for over 60 days, and now wants to abuse him even in death.. for immoral dignity, just Pure Evil.
I have cried at this Scene.
What about Edgar lungu how did he abused HH? ONE HUNDRED tell me any day you know were Edgar lungu was arrested or gassed by upnd government???????? When Edgar lungu busy killing Nsama Nsama, kasongo, matapa, Kaunda, Lawrence, mapezi, mugala, and vasper did you see that useless woman crying or you condemned Edgar lungu?????? Bitterness and hatrages it will kill you chikala
Step the nonsense!
Please don’t mislead people, former president ECL was never denied medical treatment, denying him going to South Africa does not mean denying him medical attention. Which hospital in Zambia was ECL denied medical treatment? Haven’t you been singing about building hospitals during your tenure? Why didn’t ECL want to use the hospitals you claim he built? And you have also continued claiming mistreatment, when was ECL ever arrested? When did ECL ever appear in court? I can mention the number of times president HH was arrested and had appeared in court, but ECL not even once. Please don’t make false claims which don’t even any record.
Stop the nonsense! It was right for the Zambian government to help the unreasonable family by turning over the case to the RSA government to assume state surrogacy, in the interest of the deceased.
In developed countries, the government assumes surrogacy of the incompetent when the next of kin is unable to make a sound judgment. In this case, Makebi and the next of kin were incapable of reasoning and the RSA court helped them out.
We expect imbeciles to blatter all kinds of nonsense because, as the Bembas would say, “Pa nsaka tapabula chiwelewele.” Someone should stand up and protect the gullible Esther and Tasila from the shameless nakachindas and lubindas of this world.
Other imbeciles will concoct conspiracy theories where they twist the word “ritual” to mean evil. Alas, they do not recognize that they always wash their hands before eating nshima – that is a ritual too. Lungu might be given the gun salute that is a military ritual. Grow up!
Why is she crying and insulting in Bemba instead of using the Nguni, ngoni, nsenga or Zulu language, her own associated languages
She’s a hired ignorant mourner the copperbelt, You wonder the family even allowed her in court if she can’t control herself. The insults and language in bemba were very disgusting and in her home language. Her language and insults matches the level of the PF cadre at the peak ruling. She was so eloquent, maybe she was or is a cadre.
So primitive, yelling insults in public is not common in South Africa. Very bad Zambian culture shame.
This family nabo. The sister lumpenizing in court sure and insulting. You wonder how they were raised.
I hope the A.G. takes her to court for insults. Who is this sister that has surfaced only in ÈCL s death. Horrible woman. Can the people accusing HH tell us how and when he did it because wr can tell you how ECL abused HH.
A sister for hire! Do Easterners mourn the way this woman is doing? Is she lungu’s sister from another mother (from Luapula)? This is total nonsense! I E nshakaeko, bla bla, when she just came from Zambia. She reminds me of the acting performance (ifisela) in primary school.
Forgive them…they know not what they were doing.
We want to politise everything to a point where distingushing what is right and wrong is messes up in the misinformation rumour mills and those whose only proffession is live off the suffering of the poor.
I empathise with the Lungu family as I feel they were being misled.
They will have to pay the bills incurred. But take comfort that Edgar’s family will be entitled to what he earned as President.
If I was the Lungu family, I would ask that they forfeit all the monies and properties that they can not explain how they were aquired.
Emmanuel Mwamba…..come back home. Face the law. Serve your time and rebuild your life. Stop being a Smart Alec. There is no wisdom in your antics.
I’m surprised she didn’t strip naked! Useless, classless group – this family.
I’m surprised she didn’t strip naked! Useless, classless group – this family.
We just hope everything is okay with Lungu’s body and everything we were hearing were mere speculations. But if there is something the family was trying to hide, kwalaba ukusebana sana. The State has now taken over and if there is something they were trying to hide, twalafimona nomba. Bembas say, ifyakulya ubushiku bafimwena kumalushi. I am very worried about the crying from the Sister and the words she is uttering in the video, what is she worried of? Lungu’s body is just being brought back to Zambia, the country he ruled for 7 years and the country he called home, but the sister is crying the loudest, even insulting, implying that the judgment has come as a shock to her. So whoever wants to remain in South Africa can remain, we don’t care but Lungu’s body is to Zambia, it has to be buried and it will be buried here in Zambia at Embassy Park where all the deceased presidents are buried and the grave is already prepared to receive his remains. Being mistreated or whatever was done to Lungu is not a justification enough to bury him in a foreign country, Lungu himself stopped RB from going for treatment outside the country but his family played it smart, some don’t even know that such a thing was done to RB and when he died no one talked about it when he died.
Was lungu president for his family?,or did they,alone vote for him? He vied for the office and won there by accepting all the trappings which come with the office period!!!!!
Let her come back to zambia so we teach her what are real insults!
Yayaya, so the resistance to bury in Zambia has nothing to do with hatred and mistreatment but in the macabre and dark realms of witchcraft and rituals? Why didn’t they say this all along?
Did HH do any rituals on RB? What is so special about Lungu’s body? And what rituals does one do on a dead person and for what?
After RB reconciled HH and ECL, we all saw what ecl wanted to do on HH with that funny hand shake! Who is evil of the two?
Bertha Lungu’s use of insults and offensive language following the judgment was uncivilized, revealing her uncouth nature and the malicious intentions the family harbors towards the UPND government and its leadership.
Did the former president Edgar Chagwa Lungu die like a dog when, in fact, he passed away surrounded by his wife and was admitted to one of the most prestigious hospitals in South Africa? Uncontrolled emotions and anger can lead to embarrassment and shame. Can Bertha Lungu, who should be addressing the issue of the delayed burial with such a barbaric demeanor, provide any sound decisions or guidance?
For her offensive language, she should be held accountable to explain to the nation whether Attorney General Kabesha was born from a dog or if she believes a dog can give birth to human beings. The level of animosity and arrogance within the Lungu family is fueled by hatred and anger, exacerbated by the wrong people around them.
The late former Sixth President Edgar Chagwa Lungu committed numerous atrocities and treated President Hakainde Hichilema with cruelty, failing to recognize his worth. During his time, the PF was merciless, resulting in the deaths of innocent people who were gunned down, while others faced the wrath of thugs. So what is Bertha Lungu really talking about, along with those PF members who are misleading them?
When someone breaks the law, it is essential for the law to take its course. When individuals who committed crimes during the PF regime are brought before the courts to face charges, it should not be perceived as selective justice.
Kanshi lungu is not buried. Imwe can we see the body to believe na ka dna testing