SOUTH AFRICAN APPEAL COURT OVERTURNS RULING ON EDGAR LUNGU’S BURIAL
The legal battle over the final resting place of Zambia’s Sixth Republican President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, has taken another dramatic turn after South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) overturned an earlier ruling that allowed the Zambian government to repatriate his remains for a State funeral and burial in Zambia.
In a judgment delivered on Tuesday, the SCA ruled in favour of the Lungu family, stating that they have the right to decide where the former Head of State should be buried. The decision reverses a previous Pretoria High Court ruling which had granted the Zambian government authority to take possession of the body and return it to Zambia for burial with full State honours.
The ruling brings an end to months of legal wrangling between the Lungu family and the Zambian government. The family has consistently maintained that the late former president wished to be buried privately in South Africa and did not want President Hakainde Hichilema involved in his funeral arrangements. The government, on the other hand, argued that as a former Head of State, Lungu deserved a State funeral and burial in Zambia.
According to the SCA, the Zambian government did not have the legal authority under South African law to override the wishes of the family. Zambia’s Attorney General has since acknowledged the court’s decision and indicated that the government will respect the ruling.
The judgment is expected to have significant implications for the prolonged dispute that has kept Edgar Lungu’s remains in South Africa since his death in June 2025.
What are your thoughts on the court’s decision? Should Edgar Lungu be buried in South Africa as his family wishes, or in Zambia with full State honours?
