In a dramatic twist just hours before the planned funeral, the Zambian government obtained a court injunction in South Africa to halt the private burial of former President Edgar Lungu. This has intensified an ongoing dispute with his family over where he should be laid to rest.
The Pretoria High Court intervened on Wednesday after Zambia filed an urgent application on the morning of the ceremony. Dressed in mourning attire, Lungu’s relatives abandoned funeral proceedings to attend the unexpected courtroom session. The court ruled that the burial would be postponed until the case was resolved, scheduling the next hearing for August 4, AP reported.
This legal action is the latest escalation in a tense standoff between Lungu’s family and the government of President Hakainde Hichilema, who has long had a contentious relationship with his predecessor. The state insists Lungu should be honored with a state funeral on Zambian soil, as provided by law, while the late president’s family has rejected that proposal, citing personal instructions Lungu allegedly left before his death.
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“He’s not a refugee,” Zambia’s Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha remarked after the hearing, emphasizing that the government was working to repatriate the former leader’s remains.
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Lungu, who served as Zambia’s president from 2015 to 2021, died on June 5 in a South African hospital at age 68. His death has triggered a political and legal clash over funeral arrangements. Twice, Zambia’s planned state funeral was cancelled due to irreconcilable disagreements. According to his family and lawyers, Lungu explicitly stated that Hichilema should not attend his funeral. Yet, the government insisted that as head of state, Hichilema was expected to preside over the national ceremony.
Kabesha later issued a statement asserting the state’s responsibility to offer a dignified and official farewell. “To ensure that all Zambian citizens can pay their respects in a dignified and appropriate way,” he noted, adding that personal preferences must yield to the public interest.
A burial plot has already been prepared at the official presidential cemetery in Lusaka, where all former heads of state are traditionally interred. But Lungu’s family had bypassed this, organizing a separate funeral and planning a private burial in South Africa, attended by senior officials from his political party.
While mourners gathered at a Johannesburg church roughly 60 kilometers away, the court’s emergency ruling delayed the burial, allowing only a memorial service to proceed.
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The bitter political rift between Lungu and Hichilema spans nearly a decade. After narrowly defeating Hichilema in 2016, Lungu’s administration detained him on treason charges, a move widely condemned internationally. Hichilema was later released and went on to defeat Lungu in the 2021 election.
Even after leaving office, tensions persisted. Lungu accused the current administration of surveillance, intimidation, and obstructing his political ambitions, including preventing him from mounting a comeback in the 2026 elections. However, the government has rejected all such claims.
