Court lets Edgar Lungu family decide burial, blocks Zambia transfer
What’s next: Zambia’s government must decide whether to keep fighting after the South African appeals court overturned a repatriation order.
A South African appeals court ruled Tuesday that former Zambian President Edgar Lungu’s family, not Zambia’s government, can decide where he is buried, reversing a lower court order that had allowed his body to be sent to Lusaka for a state funeral. Lungu died in Pretoria last year at 68 while receiving medical treatment, and his remains have stayed in South Africa as the dispute dragged on. His family wants a private burial in South Africa, while Zambia argued that a former head of state should be buried with presidential honors at a special site in Lusaka. The court found Zambia had not shown a legal right under South African law to override the family’s wishes and said negotiations over funeral arrangements had never produced a final agreement.