A South African court has halted the planned burial of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu, just moments before the private ceremony was set to begin, intensifying an ongoing dispute between Lungu’s family and the Zambian government over his funeral arrangements. The Pretoria High Court’s decision was delivered shortly after mourners had completed a funeral mass in South Africa, where the late president’s family had chosen to bury him. The court intervened following an urgent application filed by the Zambian government, which objected to the family’s unilateral plans and insisted that Lungu should be laid to rest in Zambia with full state honors.
The halt follows a fragile agreement that quickly unraveled between the government and Lungu’s relatives. Initial consensus had allowed for a state funeral in Zambia, but disagreements over logistics and protocol prompted the family to opt for a more discreet burial abroad. President Hakainde Hichilema has maintained that as a former head of state, Lungu “belongs to the nation” and should be buried on Zambian soil.
The Pretoria court has now set August 4, 2025, as the date for a special hearing on the matter. Zambia’s Attorney General Mulilo D. Kabesha has until July 4 to file an amended notice supporting the repatriation of Lungu’s remains, while the family has until July 11 to submit opposing arguments. The court will also decide who bears the legal costs of the urgent application. The standoff echoes a similar dispute in 2021 involving Zambia’s founding president, Kenneth Kaunda, whose family wanted him buried next to his wife. The government overruled them, insisting on a national burial at Embassy Memorial Park in Lusaka.
Lungu’s death at age 68 in South Africa has reignited long-standing tensions with his successor, President Hichilema. During Lungu’s presidency, Hichilema was jailed for over 100 days on treason charges in 2017. The animosity appears to have carried into the current dispute, with Lungu’s family claiming he explicitly requested Hichilema not attend his funeral. This latest development leaves the former president’s body in limbo and highlights the complex interplay between state authority, family wishes, and political legacy in Zambia.
