A South African High Court has ruled that the body of the late Zambian President be repatriated to Zambia.
The former President, who served as the sixth president of Zambia from 26 January 2015 to 24 August 2021, died on June 5, 2025, at the age of 68 at Mediclinic Medforum Hospital, Pretoria, South Africa.
The South African court halted plans to bury former Zambian President Edgar Lungu at a private ceremony just as it was about to start.
The news was only announced to mourners in a church in South Africa after a funeral mass had already finished.
This is the latest twist in a row between the government and Lungu’s family over his burial, after the family opted for a private ceremony in South Africa, rather than a full state funeral at home.
The Zambian government had filed an urgent case in the Pretoria High Court seeking to stop the burial planned by his family.
The court said that the funeral would not go ahead following an “agreement between the parties” however, it appears that any funeral won’t happen until August at the earliest.
The dispute follows a long-standing feud between Lungu and his successor, President Hakainde Hichilema, with Lungu’s family saying he had indicated that Hichilema should not attend his funeral.
Following Lungu’s death in South Africa aged of 68, the family wanted to be in charge of the funeral arrangements, including the repatriation of his body, but the Zambian authorities sought to take control.
The government and his family later agreed he would have a state funeral before relations broke down over the precise arrangements, prompting the family to opt for a burial in South Africa.
President Hichilema has since argued that Lungu, as a former president, “belongs to the nation of Zambia” and should be buried in the country.
