Trending 
A South African court has ruled that Zambia’s former president, Edgar Lungu, may be buried in South Africa, siding with his family in a prolonged dispute with the Zambian government over his final resting place.
The Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa overturned a lower court decision that had earlier halted a planned private burial and ordered the repatriation of Lungu’s remains to Zambia. The latest ruling effectively restores the family’s authority over burial arrangements, more than a year after his death.
Delivering its judgment, the five-judge panel stressed that “a family’s right to decide on the burial of a loved one falls within the inner sanctum of an individual’s family life,” reinforcing the legal weight placed on familial consent in such matters.
Lungu died on June 5 last year in South Africa at the age of 68 after an undisclosed illness, with reports noting he had been suffering from recurring achalasia, a condition affecting the oesophagus. His death immediately triggered a dispute between his family and the Zambian state over whether he should receive a state funeral in Lusaka or be buried privately in South Africa.
President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration has insisted on repatriating the former leader for a state burial, while the family has resisted arrangements involving the president, citing long-standing political tensions between both men.
The rivalry dates back to Lungu’s presidency from 2015 to 2021, a period marked by political confrontation, including Hichilema’s 2017 detention on treason charges following a convoy incident involving the presidential motorcade.
Following Lungu’s death, the state declared a national mourning period, later extended, but tensions escalated when the government shortened it, citing the family’s refusal to release the body.
The dispute has also been complicated by ongoing legal cases involving Lungu’s widow and children, which his supporters describe as politically motivated.
The ruling now leaves Zambia facing a sensitive diplomatic and political setback, while closing, at least legally, one chapter of a bitter post-presidency dispute.
