Zambia accepts SCA ruling in Edgar Lungu burial dispute

The Zambian government says although it disagrees with the South African Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment, it will not pursue the matter any further.

For more than a year, the Zambian government had been locked in a legal dispute with the family of former president Edgar Lungu over the burial of his remains.

Negotiations between the two parties collapsed after the government was unable to honour Lungu’s reported final wish that current president Hakainde Hichilema neither receive his body nor attend his funeral.

Following the breakdown in talks, the family opted to bury Lungu in South Africa, where they reside.

Lungu died at the age of 68 at Mediclinic Medforum Hospital in Pretoria on 5 June 2025. He reportedly died from complications related to a heart condition.

On 18 June, the family halted plans to repatriate his body to Zambia, saying he would instead be buried in South Africa in accordance with their wishes for a private funeral.

Hichilema, who had been expected to receive Lungu’s body, subsequently ended the national mourning period after four days while the legal dispute unfolded.

Lungu and Hichilema were long-time political rivals. A lawyer by training, Lungu became Zambia’s sixth president in 2015 following the death in office of his predecessor, Michael Sata.

Lungu is survived by his wife, Esther, and their six children.

The family sought to block the repatriation of his remains, alleging that the Zambian government had ulterior motives. During proceedings in the Pretoria High Court, Lungu’s sister, Bertha, alleged that the government intended to perform rituals on his body.

In April, the Zambian government obtained control of Lungu’s remains after arguing that the family’s application to the SCA had been filed out of time.

The Lungu family subsequently approached the Pretoria High Court on an urgent basis and secured an order directing that the remains be returned to them.

On Tuesday, the SCA ruled in favour of the family, affirming their right to bury the former president according to their wishes.

In a statement, Zambia’s ministry of justice says it would not exercise its right to appeal the matter to the Constitutional Court.

“In line with the judgment today, this is now a private matter for the Lungu family to proceed with their desired burial in the republic of South Africa,” the statement says.

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