CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A lengthy legal fight over the final resting place of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu may finally be coming to an end. South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal issued a ruling Tuesday in favor of Lungu’s family, rejecting the Zambian government’s attempt to take custody of his body and bring it home for burial.
The decision reverses an earlier South African court order that had required the family to turn over Lungu’s remains to Zambian authorities for repatriation.
Lungu passed away in South Africa on June 5, 2025, at the age of 68. The Zambian government had sought to have him buried at a national cemetery reserved for the country’s leaders, while his family chose to lay him to rest in South Africa instead.
The dispute carried with it the weight of a bitter political rivalry between Lungu and current Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema — a conflict that, remarkably, continued even after Lungu’s death. His body remained in a mortuary throughout the duration of the court proceedings.
Lungu’s family stated they were carrying out his final wishes, which included that Hichilema have no involvement with his body and not preside over any state funeral held in Zambia.
The conflict erupted last June when a funeral service organized by the family in South Africa was halted after the Zambian government filed an emergency court case. Authorities argued that national customs and protocols required Lungu to be interred at the national cemetery in his home country.
In a majority decision handed down Tuesday, the panel of judges on the Supreme Court of Appeal concluded that “the common law and constitutional rights of family prevail” over the Zambian government’s position.
The Supreme Court of Appeal ranks as South Africa’s second highest court. The Zambian government still has the option to escalate the matter to the Constitutional Court.
Lungu led Zambia as president from 2015 to 2021, defeating Hichilema in two separate elections during that period. While Lungu held power, Hichilema — then the opposition leader — was jailed for four months on treason charges that were eventually dropped.
Lungu ultimately lost the 2021 election to Hichilema and later claimed that he had been effectively placed under house arrest by officials acting under Hichilema’s direction.
