By 
The South African Supreme Court of Appeal will Tuesday deliver judgment in the matter where former President Edgar Lungu’s family is challenging a lower court order for the repatriation of his body for a state funeral in Zambia.
The Lungu family appealed a 2025 Pretoria High Court ruling that granted the Zambian government the right to conduct a state funeral for the late president in Lusaka.
The dispute centers on government’s push for a state funeral at Embassy Park, which the family has actively opposed in favor of a private burial in South Africa.
In the previous court session, family lawyer, Thembeka Ngcukaitobi, told the court that former President Lungu’s wish was for President Hakainde Hichilema to have no role or involvement in his funeral arrangements.
But Advocate Ben Stoop, appearing for the Zambian government, argued that the late president should be regarded as a national asset whose burial cannot be reduced to a private family matter.
He told the court that public interest and the symbolic status of a former Head of State must take precedence over private wishes.
The family maintained that Mr. Lungu was treated as an ordinary citizen after leaving office and stripped of presidential entitlements, arguing that the State therefore has no legal basis to interfere in his burial.
They insisted that government should not participate in any aspect of the funeral arrangements, citing disputed last-minute burial proposals and concerns over extended State access to the body.
The matter was heard before a full bench comprising Justices John Eldrid Smith, Thandi Norman and Raylene May Keightley, who questioned distinctions between this case and that of former President Kenneth Kaunda.
“If the family does not want the President to preside over the funeral, does that also prevent him from attending in his role as Head of State?” Stoop asked during submissions.
The court also heard that under Zambia’s established protocol, all former Heads of State are traditionally buried at Embassy Park in Lusaka. However, judges questioned whether the practice could be treated as binding legal custom without clear legal justification.
The judges stressed that in a constitutional democracy, burial rights engage deeply personal and dignified interests, and cannot be overridden without a firm legal foundation.
Lungu, 68, died on 5 June 2025 while receiving specialized treatment in South Africa. 5 June 2026 marked one year since his passing, with his remains still in South Africa pending the court’s decision.
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