Family of ex-Zambia President Lungu wins court battle to bury him outside Zambia
In its judgment, the court argued that evidence indicated that Lungu had regarded himself as unwelcome in Zambia and believed he would not receive a.
Zambia’s former President Edgar Lungu. He died in South Africa at the age of 68. (Photo: File)
The family of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu has secured a court victory in South Africa that allows them to proceed with plans to bury him outside Zambia, marking a major development in a prolonged dispute over his final resting place.
The ruling was delivered on Tuesday by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, which overturned an August 2025 decision by the High Court in Pretoria that had permitted the Zambian government to repatriate Lungu’s remains for a state funeral in Lusaka.
In its judgment, the court argued that evidence indicated that Lungu had regarded himself as unwelcome in Zambia and believed he would not receive a dignified burial under the current political leadership.
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"The very ritual intended to bring closure has, instead, pitted family against the state in a hard-fought legal dispute far from the protagonists' home," Justice Raylene May Keightley said, according to the BBC.
Lungu died in South Africa in June 2025 at the age of 68 after an undisclosed illness, triggering a dispute between his family and the Zambian state over where and how he should be buried. His remains have remained in the Cyril Ramaphosa-led nation ever since.
The government of Zambia has insisted that the former head of state should be accorded a full state funeral and laid to rest at a designated presidential burial site in Lusaka, alongside other national leaders.
However, Lungu’s family has rejected a state burial, arguing instead for a private ceremony and opposing arrangements that would place the funeral under government control. They have also cited Lungu’s strained relationship with Zambia’s current administration under President Hakainde Hichilema.
Tensions surrounding the funeral reflect long-standing political divisions between Lungu and Hichilema, whose rivalry defined Zambia’s political landscape in the years leading up to the former president’s defeat in 2021.
At various points since Lungu’s death, the dispute has led to conflicting announcements over mourning arrangements, competing claims over control of the funeral process, and legal battles in South African courts over custody of the body.
It is not yet clear how the Zambian government will respond to the latest ruling or whether it will pursue further legal or diplomatic action.