…dismisses government’s application and orders it to pay the family’s legal costs
The Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa has ruled that the family of Zambia’s sixth Republican President, Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, has the legal right to decide how and where he should be buried.
The case arose after a dispute between the Government of Zambia and the late President Lungu’s family following his death in South Africa on 5 June 2025. While the Zambian Government wanted to repatriate his body to Zambia for a state funeral and burial at Embassy Park in Lusaka, the family opposed the move, arguing that it went against the former president’s wishes.
According to court documents, President Lungu had repeatedly expressed his desire that President Hakainde Hichilema and the Zambian Government should not be involved in his funeral arrangements. His family said these wishes stemmed from what he considered unfair treatment by the government after leaving office.
The Zambian Government argued that, as a former Head of State, President Lungu was entitled to a state funeral and burial in Zambia. It also claimed that an agreement had been reached with the family to allow the repatriation and burial of his remains.
However, the South African appeal court found that the government failed to prove it had a legal right to override the family’s wishes. The judges ruled that South African law protects the dignity, privacy and autonomy of families in burial decisions and that, in the absence of a valid legal basis, the state could not take control of the burial process.
The court also rejected the government’s argument that a binding agreement had been reached with the family. After reviewing the evidence, the judges concluded that discussions between the two sides were ongoing and that no final agreement had been concluded.
In its judgment, the court emphasized that burial decisions normally belong to the deceased person’s next of kin and that the expressed wishes of the deceased should be respected whenever possible.
As a result, the appeal court overturned an earlier High Court decision that had authorised the Zambian Government to repatriate and bury President Lungu in Zambia. The court instead dismissed the government’s application and ordered it to pay the family’s legal costs.
By ALF