South Africa: Former Zambian President's Widow Wins Court Battle to Bury Him in South Africa

Edgar Chagwa Lungu was excluded from the 2026 presidential race.

By Anita Dangazele

Esther Lungu and seven family members won their appeal to bury the late former Zambian president at Fourways Memorial Park in Johannesburg, not Lusaka.

The Supreme Court found the Zambian government could not prove Lungu agreed to a State funeral, and ordered it to pay the family's legal costs.

Esther Lungu has won a major court battle to bury her husband in South Africa.

The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled on Tuesday that the Zambian government had no right to take his remains, because it could not prove he had agreed to a State funeral.

The judgment summary states plainly: in the absence of proof of such an agreement, the family's constitutional rights to dignity, privacy and family autonomy prevail. The Zambian government's application was dismissed with costs, including those of two counsel.

Edgar Lungu died on 5 June 2025 in South Africa, where he had been receiving medical treatment. His body has been held at an AVBOB private mortuary in Pretoria East ever since, while his family and the Zambian government fought in court over where he would be buried.

Esther Lungu and seven other family members want him buried at Fourways Memorial Park in Johannesburg. They say Lungu made clear before he died that his successor, current Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, should have no role in his funeral arrangements.

The Zambian government says national protocol requires a State funeral with full military honours. It had already prepared a grave for him at Embassy Park in Lusaka, the official burial site for Zambian presidents.

The SCA ruling goes in the family's favour.

But the Zambian government retains the right to petition the Constitutional Court, South Africa's apex court, to challenge the decision. The Constitutional Court previously dismissed a direct application by the Lungu family on procedural grounds only, without ruling on the merits. That means the door is still open.

South African judges and Zambia's Attorney General, Mulilo Kabesha, have noted that out-of-court talks have run alongside the court proceedings. A negotiated settlement remains possible.

For now, the body remains in Pretoria East.

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