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The battle over who has the final say in the burial of former Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu returned to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, where Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi accused the Zambian government of advancing a “legal fantasy.”
Ngcukaitobi, appearing for the late president’s family, said it was impossible for the State to reinstate rights or benefits on a man who died without them.
“You cannot reinstate benefits on a corpse. That is not law. That is fantasy,” he told the court.
He argued that Mr. Lungu had already been stripped of his presidential benefits before his death, making any attempt to restore them posthumously unlawful and absurd.
The State’s case, he said, was based on the “fiction of a corpse holding rights,” something not recognised in law.
The advocate further submitted that even if benefits extended to the widow, Esther Lungu, she was under no obligation to accept them. “No person can be compelled to accept benefits against their will,” he said, adding that decisions over burial rest with the family, not the State.
Ngcukaitobi also stressed that Zambian law could not dictate outcomes in a South African court, warning that allowing such a precedent would undermine South African sovereignty.
Read More: Court adjourns ex-president Lungu burial pending constitutional review
He reminded the court that local law treats a corpse as incapable of ownership or contractual dealings, with burial rights devolving to the spouse and close family.
“Family trumps government every time,” he emphasised, noting that Mrs. Lungu had the constitutional right to decide how her husband should be laid to rest.
He faulted the High Court for relying on Zambian law without proper expert evidence, saying Zambia had merely asserted its position without proof, while South African law and constitutional protections of privacy, dignity, and equality clearly safeguarded the family’s wishes.
The Zambian government, however, has maintained that there was an agreement with the Lungu family permitting the State to handle the burial and argued that public interest justified repatriating the remains.
Acting Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba has since reserved his ruling on whether the matter should proceed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
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