South African court clears repatriation of Zambia ex-president Lungu’s remains for state funeral
Lungu’s family sought to challenge the ruling at South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal, claiming the Pretoria court wrongly applied Zambian law, but their bid was dismissed with costs.
A South African court has dismissed an appeal by the family of the late former Zambian president, Edgar Lungu, paving the way for his remains to be repatriated to Zambia for a state funeral.
The Pretoria High Court ruled that the family’s case had “no reasonable prospects of success.” The appeal had sought to overturn an earlier judgment by the same court, which allowed the Zambian government to repatriate Lungu’s remains.
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Lungu’s family had planned to escalate the matter to South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal, arguing that the Pretoria court wrongly applied Zambian law instead of South African law in its ruling. However, their application was dismissed with costs.
“As for the application of Zambian law, the Court considered that the deceased was on a temporary visit to the Republic (South Africa) for medical reasons. The main parties to the dispute are peregrine (Foreigners),” the court ruled on Tuesday, according to Anadolu Ajansi.
Died at 68
Lungu died in early June at the age of 68 while receiving treatment in South Africa. His exact cause of death has not been made public.
Following his death, the family wanted him buried in Johannesburg, citing political tensions with Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema. They claimed Lungu had expressed a wish that Hichilema should not attend his funeral.
Lusaka, however, insisted on a state funeral in Zambia, as is customary for former presidents. Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha filed an urgent petition in South Africa seeking to halt Lungu’s burial until the dispute over his final rites was resolved.
In August, the Pretoria High Court ruled that Zambia had the right to repatriate Lungu’s remains despite objections from his family.
“A former president’s personal wishes or the wishes of his family cannot outweigh the right of the state to honour that individual with a state funeral,” the court ruled at the time.
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