By 
Hopes of burying Zambia’s Sixth Republican President Edgar Lungu this month remains uncertain after his widow, Esther Lungu, children and other family members filed an application for leave to appeal a South African High Court judgment that ordered the repatriation of his remains to Zambia.
This latest legal twist came just hours after the Gauteng High Court ruled in favour of the Zambian government, represented by Attorney-General Mulilo Kabesha, paving the way for the late president’s remains to be returned and interred at Embassy Park, as per state arrangements.
Lungu died on June 5 and has since been kept at the Two Mountains mortuary in South Africa, who are the eighth applicant.
The family, however, has opposed the repatriation and burial plans, arguing they contradict Lungu’s final wishes and lack the family’s consent.
According to documents filed before the South African High Court, the family, represented by MASHELE Attorneys,seeks leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
They argue that the full Court, comprising Justices Ledwaba, Modau, and Potterill, erred on several grounds when it granted government’s application.
Among their objections, the family claimed the court misapplied legal principles and wrongfully enforced what they described as a “tentative” funeral program.
They maintained that no final agreement was ever reached between them and the Zambian government regarding the burial arrangements.
The appeal notice lists 17 grounds of appeal, including the court’s alleged failure to recognize the absence of consensus on burial plans, misinterpretation of South African and Zambian law, and disregard of Lungu’s explicit wishes that those who had distanced themselves during his lifetime should not preside over his funeral.
The family also accused government of acting in bad faith, misrepresenting that the current president would not be involved in the burial. They insisted that any agreement reached on the burial was rendered void by these misrepresentations and would cause undue emotional harm if enforced.
They argued that the court’s finding that burial details were trivial undermined constitutional rights to dignity, freedom of belief, and cultural expression under South African law.
The Zambian government is cited as the respondent in the application.
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