from ARNOLD MULENGA in Lusaka, Zambia
Zambia Bureau
LUSAKA, (CAJ News) – THE ruling by South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal in favour of the family of the late Edgar Lungu paves the way for an unprecedented development in Zambian history, with the likelihood of him becoming the first former president of the nation to be buried outside the country.
This court ruling that the decision on the burial lies with the family and not the state brings to an end one of the most long-drawn-out deadlocks in the Southern African nation, where the apprehension has been worsened by outbreaks of violence less than two months before polls.
President from 2015 to 2021, Lungu, who was 68 at the time of his demise, died on June 5, 2025, in a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, due to complications following surgery.
His death sparked a fallout between his family, which was against a state funeral but wanted to honour his wishes of a private burial, and the government of his successor, President Hakainde Hichilema, which sought his repatriation and burial at the Embassy Park Presidential Burial Site in Lusaka, where five other former presidents are buried.
Rupiah Banda, Frederick Chiluba, Kenneth Kaunda, Levy Mwanawasa and Michael Sata are buried at the site.
On Tuesday, the SCA ruled in favour of the Lungu family, paving the way for burial in South Africa, where last year the family almost buried him but were halted by a South African court after Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha appealed on behalf of Hichilema’s government.
Responding to the ruling on Tuesday, Kabesha said although the government disagreed with the SCA’s decision, it had resolved not to exercise its right to appeal to South Africa’s Constitutional Court.
He said the government believed Lungu should be honoured at Embassy Park to enable Zambians to pay tribute to their former leader.
“We believed that we would honour the sixth president as we have honoured all other former presidents, and thereby give the millions of Zambians he led an opportunity to mourn him in their own country. Unfortunately, this is not to be, as the family have decided to bury him in South Africa,” Kabesha said.
Despite the outcome of the legal proceedings, he reiterated the government’s condolences to the Lungu family and acknowledged the former president’s contribution to national development and public service.
Hichilema had, after the death, declared a period of national mourning and subsequently extended it to allow the nation to honour him.
“President Lungu served this nation from 2015 to 2021, and his place in our history is firmly secure,” Kabesha stated.
Brian Matambo, Media Director of Lungu’s Patriotic Front (PF), responded, “Today, the legal position is settled. The family has been vindicated. The State has been restrained. And President Lungu’s dignity must now be respected.”
The death of Lungu laid bare the rivalry with Hichilema, who, as opposition leader, spent some time incarcerated in 2017 after his motorcade allegedly refused to yield to the presidential convoy, leading to treason charges.
After assuming power, Hichilema is accused of targeting members of the Lungu family by allegedly influencing the courts to pursue members of the family, including the widow, Esther Lungu.
The family claims that Lungu had expressed a wish that, in the event of his death, Hichilema must not preside over his burial.
Whitney Mulobela, Chief Communication Strategist at the Zambia State House, said the government had fulfilled its public duty and responsibility in the matter concerning the late president.
“As the Attorney General rightly noted, throughout the 12 months this case has been before the court, the focus has remained on honouring a man who served his nation for seven years,” the official said.
He said Lungu’s legacy was firmly etched in the country’s history.
“May his soul rest in peace as his family now prepares to lay him to rest in South Africa,” Mulobela said.
This coincides with anti-migrant protests in South Africa, where some vigilante groups have set a so-called deadline of June 30 for foreign nationals to leave.
David Ziyambo, a Zambian political strategist, said, “The ruling by the South African SCA brings a definitive, just end to a deeply painful chapter in our country’s history.”
“Whatever his shortcomings, former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu did not deserve the treatment he faced in life—and it is a tragedy that he had to face it in death, too.”
The court ruling comes as Zambia prepares for polls in August.
The opposition has cited the deadlock between the Lungu family and Hichilema’s administration as portraying the president and the United Party for National Development (UPND) as lacking sympathy.
Makebi Zulu, Lungu’s lawyer, is among the main candidates challenging Hichilema for the presidency.
“The question remains whether the opposition can effectively leverage this (court) ‘victory’ into broader political capital, or if the electorate’s focus will remain firmly fixed on the more immediate, existential challenges posed by the coming drought and economic instability,” said a commentator.
– CAJ News