South African court denies family's bid to bury former Zambian president in South Africa
Pretoria High Court upholds order that Edgar Lungu's remains be handed to the Zambian state, saying an appeal has little prospect of success
JOHANNESBURG — A South African court on Tuesday denied a legal bid by the family of former Zambian president Edgar Lungu to appeal an earlier ruling that he must be buried in his home country, confirming that his remains are to be handed over to the Zambian government.
The Pretoria High Court in August ordered that Lungu’s remains be transferred to Zambia, saying the Zambian government had the right to bury its former head of state. The court on Tuesday refused the family’s request for leave to appeal, concluding there were no reasonable prospects of a higher court reaching a different outcome.
Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 to 2021, died in a South African hospital in June at the age of 68. His family had sought to have him buried in South Africa and asked a court to bar Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema from attending or speaking at a state funeral service.
The High Court reiterated its earlier reasoning in declining to grant leave to appeal, saying, “We are satisfied that no compelling reasons exist to grant leave to appeal simply because the matter is so fact specific that there is very little to no prospects that the same set of facts will confront a court again.”
The dispute has unfolded against the backdrop of sharp political rivalry between Lungu and Hichilema. The two men were sworn political opponents for years; Hichilema was briefly jailed in 2017 during Lungu’s presidency. Relations remained tense after Hichilema took office, with Lungu accusing the new government last year of using police to harass him and restrict his movements. The Zambian government denied those allegations and also disputed the family’s claim that it initially prevented Lungu from traveling to South Africa for medical treatment.
Legal filings made by the family argued for private burial arrangements in South Africa and sought to exclude Hichilema from any funeral proceedings in the country. The state of Zambia maintained that as a former president, Lungu’s remains fell under state protocol and that the government had the right to organize and oversee burial arrangements.
With the Pretoria High Court’s decision to refuse leave to appeal, the matter is effectively closed in South Africa unless the family secures an extraordinary legal route. The court’s ruling means the process of transferring Lungu’s remains to Zambia can proceed in accordance with the earlier order, subject to any administrative or diplomatic arrangements required to do so.
The case drew attention regionally for the way it intersected with questions of national protocol, cross-border medical treatment for political figures, and the enduring tensions of Zambian domestic politics following an acrimonious transfer of power in 2021.