Court Overrules Lungu’s Burial Wish…Orders Repatriation to Zambia
A South African court has ordered the body of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu to be returned to Zambia for a state funeral, despite objections from his family who insist he wished to be buried privately in South Africa.
The ruling by the Pretoria High Court on Friday brings an end to a two-month legal dispute between the Zambian government and the Lungu family, but has left close relatives furious.
Lungu died on 5 June at Mediclinic Medforum in Pretoria while receiving treatment for esophageal cancer. He was 68.
His widow, Esther Lungu, and family lawyer Makebi Zulu told the court that the former president had expressed a strong desire not to be buried in Zambia, and specifically wanted to exclude President Hakainde Hichilema from any funeral proceedings
“My husband was clear: he wanted President Hichilema nowhere near his funeral or his body,” Mrs Lungu said in an affidavit.
The family also accused the Zambian government of contributing to Lungu’s death by allegedly delaying approval for his medical evacuation to South Africa and by stripping him of presidential benefits in 2023.
But the court ruled that, as a former head of state, Lungu’s burial must follow national protocol.
“This is a matter of national dignity,” said Acting Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba, delivering the ruling alongside a full bench. “As a former head of state, President Lungu’s burial must reflect Zambia’s protocol and honour his service to the nation.”
The court granted the Zambian government’s request for full control over the burial process. This includes the repatriation of the body, its release from a Pretoria funeral home, and the exclusion of the family’s authority over funeral arrangements.
Judge Ledwaba acknowledged the family’s concerns and advised that President Hichilema should minimise his involvement in the burial, “to honour the family’s wishes as far as possible”.
The decision has angered Lungu’s relatives, who accuse the government of ignoring the late president’s personal instructions and using his death for political purposes.
A family member, speaking anonymously, told the BBC: “This is not what he wanted. We feel betrayed.”
The Zambian government, represented by Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha, argued that the burial of a former president is a state matter governed by law, and not subject to private arrangements.
The court also dismissed an application by Zambian citizen Vincent Kafula, who had tried to intervene, warning that the dispute was “tearing Zambia apart”.
Lungu’s body will now be flown to Lusaka on a private chartered aircraft. It will lie in state at his residence and at a national conference centre before burial at Embassy Park with full military honours.
President Lungu served as Zambia’s sixth president from 2015 until 2021. His political legacy remains divisive, and his death has only deepened tensions within Zambian society.
The judgement has been passed
And the remains some one has been craving for will soon be in his pocket.. or will they?
And the charade will start..Some people never change. They are who they are.
We await the statement from the family, on the way forward..
There is no way forward,its game over.Let Lungu rest in peace
Stop misleading people. Its just common sense that a former president should be burred in home country unless otherwise. The wishes of the public should overrule the wishes of the family. Anyway, its game over now.
Look at them now.What were they expecting?