Pretoria High Court Blocks Burial Of Late Zambian President Lungu As Family and Government Fight Bitterly

Edgar Chagwa Lungu

Source: Africa Publicity

A High Court in Pretoria has temporarily stopped the funeral of late Zambian President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu from taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa as the Lungu family and the Government of Zambia fight bitterly over Mr. Lungu’s body and where he should be buried.

The Court allowed the Zambian government to make an application for repatriation of Mr. Lungu’s body on July 3, 2025.

Mr. Lungu’s family is permitted to file an opposition to the repatriation of his body, on July 4, 2025. The matter will be heard by the court on July 18, 2025.

Zambia’s Attorney General, Mulilo Kabesha, who filed a public interest lawsuit yesterday, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, stated today that there was no basis for burying Mr. Lungun in South Africa.

 

According to him, Mr. Lungu did not die as a refugee.

 

As earlier reported, the Zambian government dragged the family of former Zambia’s President Edgar Chagwa Lungu to a Pretoria High Court in South Africa, seeking an interim injunction to block the family from burying him in South Africa.

 

The family was scheduled to bury Mr. Lungu in South Africa and his funeral service was due to take place in Johannesburg today, Wednesday June 25, 2025.

 

But the government of President Hakinde Hichilema is doing everything humanly possible to return Mr. Lungu’s body back to Zambia and give him a state burial.

 

Zambia’s Attorney General, Mulilo Kabesha, submitted a public interest lawsuit yesterday, challenging the burial in South Africa.

 

Mr. Lungu’s family says he left behind instructions that President Hichilema should not attend his funeral. The matter appeared to have been settled and his body scheduled right return home last week but the family put a stop to its return, accusing the Zambian government of releasing a draft programme of Mr. Lungu’s funeral without consulting with them.

 

 

While a burial programme shows that Mr. Lungu was scheduled to be buried today, a legal suit helped the Zambian Government in halting the burial proceedings.

A programme shared online shows that a requiem mass is expected to be held this morning at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

A brochure of the funeral shows Archbishop of Lusaka, Alick Banda, will be the celebrant, with mourners expected to arrive at 10:00.

 

However, the holding of this funeral programme may arguably depend on the outcome of a lawsuit challenging the decision to bury Mr Lungu, who died at the age of 68, in South Africa recently.

 

Yesterday, Zambia’s Attorney General, Mulilo Kabesha, filed a public interest lawsuit in the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa, Pretoria, challenging the decision of the Lungu family to bury him abroad.

 

Mr Kabesha, who has directed the legal suit against members of the late former President’s family and two other individuals, is seeking an interim court order to prevent the burial of the sixth President in South Africa.

 

In the court documents, the Attorney General requests that no burial take place until all disputes regarding Mr Lungu’s final resting place are resolved,specifically, whether he should be interred in Zambia with full military honours, customs, and traditions, as mandated by Zambian law and in keeping with public interest.

 

He argues that a state funeral for a former Zambian Head of State is a formal public event governed by strict military protocols and intended to honour individuals of national significance.

 

Further, he contends that, even if it were true, a point he denies, that the late President wished not to have a state funeral, such personal wishes must yield to the greater public interest.

 

Mr Kabesha also cites legal precedent, noting that the Zambian courts previously set aside the burial wishes of the nation’s founding President, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, in favour of public interest considerations relating to interment at Embassy Park.

 

Among those cited as respondents in the case are the widow and former First Lady Esther Nyawa Lungu, her daughters Tasila and Chiyeso Lungu, and son Dalitso Lungu.

 

Family lawyer and spokesperson Makebi Zulu is also among the respondents.

 

Hearing of the interim interdict application against the burial is expected to start today at 08:00 hours, an hour before the burial service for Mr Lungu, who died on June 5 while seeking medical attention in South Africa.

 

The Zambian Government insists that Mr Lungu should be buried in Zambia, but his family wants him interred in South Africa, creating an impasse between the two parties.

 

The South African Government had earlier indicated that, while it would be ideal for Mr Lungu to be buried back home in Zambia and accorded military honours considering his status, they were bound by the law of the land to obey the wishes of his close family.

 

The lawsuit is novel, as it is the first time a former Zambian President has died abroad, and it comes from a country without a specific law dictating where a President should be buried.