Faith Nyasuguta
A dramatic legal showdown unfolded on Wednesday, June 25, when the Pretoria High Court in South Africa ordered an immediate halt to the burial of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu, even as mourners, including his widow, gathered at a Johannesburg church for a service. This extraordinary injunction marked a new escalation in the bitter standoff between Lungu’s family and the Zambian government over his final resting place .
Lungu, who led Zambia from January 2015 until August 2021, passed away at age 68 on June 5 in Pretoria while undergoing medical treatment for cardiac complications. Following his death, sharp political tensions surfaced: Lungu’s successor, President Hakainde Hichilema, sought to bury him in Zambia’s official presidential cemetery at Embassy Park with state honours – an arrangement endorsed by Zambian law. However, Lungu’s family resisted, citing his explicit wishes that Hichilema, his political rival, not be present at the funeral .
Complicating matters further, Lungu’s family organized a private burial in South Africa, arguing that it honored his own instructions. In response, the Zambian government filed a legal intervention in South Africa, requesting that the burial be blocked pending negotiations for repatriation.
On Wednesday, during the service, Deputy Judge President Aubrey Phago Ledwaba delivered the court’s decision, stating that parties had agreed to postpone the funeral. He set the next hearing for August 4, and granted Zambia’s government until July 4 to justify its demand for repatriation. He explained that the burial should not proceed until the dispute is fully adjudicated.
Televised live by South African Broadcaster SABC, the court’s announcement interrupted the funeral service for Lungu, who stood accused of political overreach during his presidency. Chanda Katotobwe, MP and member of the Zambian delegation present, told SABC News that the adjournment “is extending the pain, the grief, that the family and the people are going through”.
The ongoing fallout stems from a longstanding feud between Lungu and Hichilema. In 2017, Hichilema was imprisoned on treason charges after his motorcade allegedly failed to give way to Lungu’s convoy. International observers criticized the arrest, and Hichilema was released several months later. In 2021, Hichilema unseated Lungu in a landslide election. In the years that followed, Lungu accused the new administration of harassment – claims the government denied.
Earlier repatriation efforts also fell through. Zambia had initially declared 16 days of national mourning and planned a state funeral beginning June 18 at Embassy Park, complete with military honours, public viewings, and ceremonial events .But Lungu’s family again halted the process on June 18, accusing the government of reneging on funeral arrangements and pressuring Hichilema’s attendance .
South Africa, acknowledging its duty to uphold the deceased’s family wishes, has also recognized Zambia’s position that other presidents were buried in Lusaka. With diplomatic coordination ongoing in Pretoria, the August hearing offers a crucial opportunity to resolve whether Lungu will be repatriated for a state funeral or laid to rest in South Africa.
As the legal battle intensifies, the standoff exposes deep political wounds in Zambia. The family’s insistence on a burial free from Hichilema’s presence clashes with the government’s view that national cohesion and protocol demand a return home with full honours. Now, all eyes are on Pretoria. The fate of Lungu’s final journey rests in a courtroom.
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